HAZARDOUS RAID ON AMSTERDAM

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21961, 4 March 1946, Page 3

HAZARDOUS RAID ON AMSTERDAM

TRENT'S FINE FEAT THE FULL STORY TOLL OF VENTURAS PRISON ESCAPE FAILS (Spf-ciai Correspondent.> fin run.) LONDON. Mar. 3. When tin* controls oT his Ventura had been shot away by a German fighter and his aircraft roared up. stalled, and then went into a spin that grew faster and faster. Squadron Leader L. 11. Trent, New Zealand’s latest V.C., believed for a few moments that he had no hope of survival. Immediately he realised that his controls were useless he had ordered his

crew to abandon the aircraft. Then he jettisoned the pilot s escape hatch above his head and, raising up his arms, endeavoured to pull himself through the opening. But the centi ifugaL force of the spin kept, him securely wedged in his seat. In one last desperate effort Leadei Trent did manage to pull himself up sufficiently so that he could feel the wind ruffle his hair, but even as he did he realised that he had no chance of getting clear by his own efforts. , . Suddenly there was a loud explosion and the next moment he found himself falling at what seemed to be a gentle pace, tumbling slowing head over heels towards the earth. The force of the spin had caused the damaged aircraft to break up and so save his life. . Worst of Many Anxious Periods

He continued to fall deliberately to escape the German fighters and a* 5000 ft. pulled the ripcord. He landed a few minutes later, shaken and wounded in the head and leg, and was promptly marched to a flak-post by a German soldier who thoughtfully recovered the parachute. Those few moments of struggling to get clear from the Ventura were the worst of many anxious periods in the flight that won Squadron Leader Trent the V.C. It was a delightful sunny summer afternoon when, as flight commander of the 487th New Zealand Squadron he took off, leading 11 Venturas on the first raid of the war on Amsterdam. At the briefing lie was impressed that the target must be attacked whatever occurred, but as the bombers roared low over the Noi’th Sea at 50ft. in perfect weather and visibility the scene seemed peaceful enough. This feeling was endorsed when, climbing as he approached the Dutch coast, he saw the beaches glinting lazilv in the sunshine. When the bombers reached 13,000 ft. the visibility was so clear that they could see Ijmuiden. Haarlem and Amsterdam. Except for the other Venturas and close fighter escort, no other aircraft were in sight. Overwhelmed by Fighters

Squadron Leader Trent set the nose of his bomber towards Amsterdam and was just levelling out" at 10,000 ft. which was the height at which the bombs would be dropped, when his fire-control reported bandit aircraft diving down out of the sun. Soon it could be seen that about 20 Messerschmitt 109’s had singled out the bombers and a larger number ot Fockewulfs were setting about the fighter escort.

Squadron Leader Trent continued on the course, anticipating that the top cover of Spitfires would soon come to the rescue, and in a moment or two there was a report that another large number of aircraft was diving down. This information cheered him immensely. particularly as the Messerschmitts' attacks were now persistent and he had seen a Ventura flown by Pilot Officer T. L. B. Taylor, of Wellington. go down with one engine flaming. But the new arrivals were not Spitfires. They were more German fighters and at that moment Squad’.Vn Leader Trent realised that there was very little hope of any of his Ventura crews getting back to England that day. A big dog-fiaht was going on two miles behind while the bombers were already halfway to their target. Squadron Leader Trent determined instantly that it was better to carry on the attempt to bomb the target than to turn back only to be shot down. The Venturas were properly ambushed. Evasive Action Fails „ Than began a race in maddeningly slow motion. Getting the sun behind hem. the German fighters queued up to dive on the bombers, scorning their puny turret armament and coming m to point-blank range. And as they watched them sweep in the Ventura crews could see the leading edges of the Germans' wings become splashed with light as the guns were fired. Then the Messerschmitts slipped underneath the Venturas and swept up on the other side ready to queue up again. Squadron Leader Trent took continual evasive action, but he could not escape all the time and his aircraft began to resemble a colander. Once one Messerschmitt. pulled up from his attack in front of Squadron Leader Trent and the New Zealander immediately got it in his sights, The Ventura’s main armaments were in the nose and when he pressed the firing button bullets from four cannon raked the German machine which overturned slowly and went straight down. Two Planes Make Bombing Run

There were yells' of delight from every member of the crew. By now the outskirts of Amsterdam had been reached, and Squadron Leader Trent, on looking about him, saw that only one Ventura remained with him —that flown by Pilot Officer S. B. Peryman. of Christchurch.

They began their bombing run to.

nether, dying straight and level and taking no evasive action. Now thi German fighters oegan to svnchronisi ,their attacks with ack-ack batteries 'first the Messerschmitts and then tin guns firing alternatively at the twi lone bombers With only five mon minutes to the target Squadron Lea der Trent's crew watched the vaiiart Permian being shot to pieces and gi down. Soon they heard their owl bomb-aimer report "Bombs gone! 1 And as Squadron Leader Trent reache* lor the .ever to close the bomb-doori another tighter attacked. The impac of it= cannon-shells was terrific and thi controls were immediately renderei useless. Within a few seconds he wai lighting to get clear and with his Eng' ijsh bomb-aimer and navigator, hi was flung out, but .the other two mem bers of the crew went down with thi aircraft.

Tunnelling Operations Countered

Squadron Leader Trent had one fun tlier narrow escape before he even' tually returned to England on .the evi of V.E-Dav. That was when takinj part in a mass escape from a tunnel in Stalagluft Three. During the suim mer he was one of the "penguins'’ whl helped to disperse the sand dug out o( the tunnel, while for six months n< was also security officer, guardinj against any leakage of information t« the Germans. He drew No. 79 in ordei of escape through the tunnel, whic!i was lUUyds long and 20ft deep, wenl under two lines ot barbed wire ano came out several yards beyond. After he had received the signal ta make a bolt trom the tunnel and had gone five yards another signal warned him to "freeze. ’ He "froze” —it wai snowing, which made the term mori realistic. Then ne waited half a minute listening to the German sentry'! crunching boots until they stopped twd or three yards behind him. Squadroa Leader Ti;ent expected .to be shot, but the German fired twice info the air ta give a general warning and thea hauled out "No. 80” from the tunnel bj his hair. That was the end of th< escape. Applied For Permanent Commission i Since his return to England Squadrok Leader Trent applied for permanent commissions m noth the R.N.Z.A.F. ana the R.A.F., and is still wondering if either requires his service. Nine yearl have passed since he first joined ;h< R.A.F. in England and he wants to con* tinue flying as a career, bu.t so fai neither serve has offered him a commission. Recently he has been an instructor in charge of airborne exercises at a transport support conversion unit. He learned of the award of the V.CL at 11.30 p.m. while he was reading iq bed and the group captain rang him up and told nim to “come over’ straight away without bothering to puf on trousers. Tno lollowing rug hi .there was a fare* well party to Squadron Leader Treaty who was transferring to another sta* tion but only ne and the group cap*; tain knew of the decoration, whicty was not officially announced until thsi following day. Wife a Former School-teacher Squadron Leader Tren.t was due td report to the Air Ministry in London) the next afternoon, but en route ha was involved in a motor accident. His wife was sligntly cut about the face and her left knee was injured, but fortunately he and his four and a half year-old daughter Christine escaped* His car was wrecked and they were driven ov a friendly stranger to the home of Stuar.t Lightbond. formerly of Nelson, a great friend of Squadron Leader Trent's father who now lives at Pinner. Squadron Leader Trent, who is immensely popular with his squadron, is modest and unassuming. When complimented on his decoration he remarked: "It is a bit of a shocker, isn't! it?” His wife, nee Ursula Woolhouse, of Hamble, a former school teacher, declared: 'I am so proud ot him. I am hoping we shall all be able to pay a visit very soon to his parents in Nelson, whom I am longing to meet ” Her most immediate concern is to try to scrape together enough coupons to buy a new costume tor the investiture, since her other wa* ruined by the blood which flowed freely after the accident. Christ'ne a.t the moment regards the award of the Victoria Cross to her father a.-, less interesting than her dancing lessons bu.t she likes Jhe idea of having her photograph taken with him.