ISSUE 107 : Jul/Aug - 1994 - Australian Defence Force Journal

Australians in the Great InvasionThousands of airmen of the Royal Australia AirForce fought in the aerial bombardment campaignwhich, in its later stages, prepared Western Europefor Allied invasion. In Bomber Command alone3486 members of the RAAF were killed.The invasion, which came when Allied armiesstormed ashore on the Normandy beaches on 6 June1944. preceded by 25,000 airborne troops, was theclimactic high point of the Second World War.It was here at the fortified and obstructed beachesthat hundreds of young Australian aircrewmen ofthe RAAF. flying heavy bombers, helped to destroyartillery batteries and obstacles to clear the way forthe infantry, who might otherwise be in great dangeron the beaches.It was here that Australian fighter pilots in a dayfighter squadron (No 453) and night fighter squadron(No 456) and more than 200 individual fighterpilots serving in Royal Air Force squadrons weresent to keep Luftwaffe at bay as the infantry battledto seize the beaches.Thus, although their numbers were not large,these young Australians who had learned to fly inthe Empire Air Training Scheme were there to representtheir country in one of the great battles inhistory.A huge 80-kilometre wide invasion fleet of 6(XX)ships had ploughed through the English Channelcarrying 130.000 men and 20.000 vehicles and hadput them ashore. The task had only just begun.Another 2.000.000 servicemen waited to be shippedto France, to engage and defeat the Nazi forcesdefending "fortress Europa".On D-Day the sky was full of Allied aircraft whichflew a total of 11,000 sorties. Some Australians flewtransport aircraft carrying American paratroopers totheir drop zones. Others took part in air operationsaimed at misleading the enemy as to the point ofattack. No less than 13.000 members of the RAAF.including the men on operational squadrons, were inEngland at the time of the invasion.Bomber Command dropped more than 5(XX) tonsof bombs in an attempt to silence shore batteries.Of the 1136 bombers committed. 168 were fromRAAF squadrons or had RAAF pilots. In 5 Group.RAF. 43 Lancasters were captained by RAAF pilots:14 from No 463 Squadron led by Wing CommanderRollo Kingsford-Smith: 14 from No 467 led bySquadron L.C. Deignan and 15 from the remainingfive squadrons of No 5 Group, including No 61 ledby Wing Commander A.W. Doubleday. No 460Squadron flew two missions, dropping 150 tons ofbombs, and No 466 (Halifaxes) bombed a battery atMaisy which threatened both Utah and Omahabeaches, where the American army was to land.After the Normandy landing. Australian bomberstook part in heavy and continuous air attacks oncommunications behind the beaches and were usedalso in direct support of British troops. The shock ofheavy bomber attacks had a stupefying effect onGerman ground troops: following a close supportstrike, the British soldiers generally encounteredonly weak enemy resistance.Heavy bomber support for the Normandy operationsended on 23 July when the strategic bombingcampaign over Europe was resumed. Within 21/2months. 86.000 tons of bombs rained on the industrialareas of Germany of which RAAF squadronscontributed 6 per cent.On 8 July Australian Lancasters and Halifaxesattacked Caen in daylight. Squadron Leader W.Blessing of Braidwood. NSW. was shot down andkilled when marking this target from his Mosquitolight bomber. Blessing, who had been decoratedwith the DSO and DFC, was one of the most courageousand skilful pilots in Bomber Command.The Spitfires of No 453 Squadron led by SquadronLeader D.H. Smith were on station over theAmerican sector of the beachhead at 8.40am onD-Day. They saw no sign of the Luftwaffe. TheGentian air force had lost the initiative on the firstday and never regained it. By 25 June No 453 hadmoved to France and on 2 July at Liseux clashedwith a mixed enemy force. The Australians claimedfour enemy destroyed and five damaged.