ISSUE 91 : Nov/Dec - 1991 - Australian Defence Force Journal

1 HI MRS I B\l II I ()l HR1I M\ 53
At the end of WWI, No. 4 sqdn, Australian Flying Corps, moved into Germany as part of the Allied Occupation
Force. They were located at an aerodrome at Bickendorf, near Cologne, which had been a heavy bomber
base. There they found several Staaken 'Giants' with the fabric stripped as in the picture above which give a
close up of the construction. The photo also gives a good idea of the size, compared to the Australian airmen.
(AWM Neg No 4147)
the size and invariably opened fire at too great a
range. Far more serious, however, than these
individual problems, was the effect the bomber raids
were having on the workforce and the disruption to
production.
The Independent Air Force
It was not necessarily the casualties, nor the
physical damage, which caused the actual disruption
to production. Whenever a warning was sounded,
factories (most of which worked round the clock)
were evacuated, and all trains and other transport
brought to a standstill. Many workers would not
report back for duty for a further twenty-four hours,
by which time there would probably be another raid.
The disruption to normal family and social life was
tremendous. For example, even in those far off days,
at least l(X),(XX) people sought shelter each night in
the underground stations. In summary, it was
estimated at the time of the September raids that the
output from the munition factories alone had been
reduced to less than one-fifth of normal.
The press were strongly agitating for reprisals,
and the population as a whole wanted to I eel that the
enemy would also suffer on their home front. The
government was not slow to institute a special
bombing force for attacks against Germany. A unit
of long range bombers was hurriedly gathered
together in France, and was soon expanded into
what became known as the Independent Force. This
then also became a very significant step in the
development of the RAF.
Attacks on enemy aerodromes began on 25th
September, and were repeated every day for over a
week. These raids resulted in immediate disruption
to the daytime overhaul of the night flying squadrons
to such an extent that the Gotha squadrons were
forced to withdraw and establish bases further to the
north-east out of range. Then, as longer range
aircraft became available, an offensive was activated
against munition plants and military objectives
generally in Germany. This campaign was then
continued with vigour for the remainder of the war.
This campaign deserves a story of its own, but in
summary there were a total of just on 700 raids
carried out on important German industrial and
other centres, resulting in 750 killed and 1850
injured, with quite heavy damage. The real value, of
course was as in Britain the increasing effect on
morale and disruption to production. Also, again as
in Britain, the Germans were forced to divert an ever
increasing amount of resources to the defence of the
homeland.
Despite the disruption to the German bomber
bases, and industry, the Germans were able to
maintain the pressure of their raids on Britain. A
force of less than thirty German aircraft continued
to hold down nearly ten times that number of
aircraft in defence against them, to say nothing of
the diversion of skilled pilots, mechanics and aircraft
from France.
By the end of October, the moon was full once
more, and on 29th October the raids over Fngland