RAID ON AARHUS

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVIII, Issue 23323, 5 October 1945, Page 3

RAID ON AARHUS

Gestapo Headquarters Bombed

Pin Point Attack By Mosquitoes Winchester Airman’s Experience To have been more than two years on operational flying of Mosquito fighter-bombers from England, in which the average life of a member of the squadron was ■reckoned at 10 weeks, to have never lost a plane and only been shot up three times, is the exceptional record of Warrant Officer R. J. Hawke, D.F.C., of Winchester. In spite of flying 12 operations in 11 days during the invasion of France after D-Day and taking part in the celebrated attack on the Gestapo headquarters at Aarhus, Warrant Officer Hawke was only in danger of having to bail out once, when the rudder of his machine was shot off over France. “Leave was due the next day, so we just had to keep going,” he said, “and we got home by the skin Of our teeth.” Warrant Officer Hawke, who was well known, in the Temuka district as a member of the staff of the South Canterbury Power Board before he joined the Air Force in 1941. went to Canada after six months’ training. Completing his training there, he was posted to a Mosquito Squadron of the tactical Air Force in England in October, 1943. Although he was attached to an Australian squadron, there were many New Zealanders in the same wing. Although reticent to relate any personal exploits, Warrant Officer Hawke was enthusiastic about the performance of that “maid of all work” of the Air Force —the Mosquito aircraft. Used for practically every job undertaken by the R.A.F., from bombing Berlin to Coastal Command and reconnaissance work, the Mosquito was the general utility plane. Its speed and general ease of manoeuvre made it ideal for many purposes, while it carried a “w’allop” provided by four 20 millimetre cannon and four .303 machineguns in addition to a load of bombs. The role of the particular squadron to which Warrant Officer Hawke was attached was that of low-level strafing and pin-point bombing. Operating at an average height of 50 feet above ground level, these craft were practically immune from radar location, flak and the attacks of enemy fighters. They were given special missions in which particular targets and pin-point bombing and gunning were essential and they carried out many of the famous exploits of the war. Cunning Camouflage After his arrival in England, the Squadron to which he was attached was engaged in bombing the V-l sites in France and Belgium. These sites were cunningly camouflaged in woods and by every possible device known to the camouflage artist, but their position was clearly marked on the maps supplied to the navigators of the bombing aircraft and there was little difficulty 'in picking them up. It was through persistent bombing of these sites that the attack of the V-l bombs on England was delayed for at least eight months. “Our experience of V-l bombs was not all on the attack,” said Warrant Officer Hawke. “They used to come over our camp in Kent at a height of about 100 feet and the anti-aircraft guns surrounding the aerodrome used to blaze away at them. We considered that this was when the war got really dangerous. Many of the shells fell short and once the guns started, the boys used to grab tin hats and dive for cover under the tables and beds. We were in tents at the time and we felt pretty naked.” After D-Day the Mosquitos were right in the thick of the fighting. On one

occasion they performed 12 operational flights in 11 days. Everything that moved behind the enemy lines was their target, their chief tasks being the direct support of troop movements, strafing convoys and trains and raiding enemy fighter aerodromes to keep their fighters on the ground. When the German retreat began, they found the roads packed with seven mile long strings of motor vehicles. After the Mosquitos had swept down their length a time or two, there was little but a mass of twisted metal left of the trucks and their drivers had taken to the fields. Gestapo’s “List” Later still came the famous mosquito raid upon the Gestapo headquarters at Aarhus. Two four-storey buildings in the heart of the town contained not only the headquarters of the dreaded Gestapo in Denmark, but also the German records of the suspects among the Danish populace and a list of many prominent members of the Danish Resistance Movement. Adjacent to the headquarters was a building in which political prisoners were kept and within 200 yards was a hospital. It was to three Mosquito squadrons that the job was given of destroying the Gestapo headquarters. It was not until they entered the briefing room on the night of October 30. 1944, that the crews knew their objective. They were told that their primary job was to destroy those records and thus save the lives of those Danish citizens who were working for the liberation of their country. Twentyfour aircraft flew from the North of England across to Denmark at 20 feet above the sea to ayoid discovery by radar location or other means. Flying at tree-top level across Denmark, they came over their target and went in four waves of six machines at a level of 50 feet. There was little opposition from fighters or flak and the bombs were “rolled in practically through the front door.” A Tommy gunner in the top storey of one of the buildings had the audacity to engage the attackers from a window and a pilot in the second wave decided to silence him. A burst from the Mosquito’s- cannon was effective but the aircraft left its undercarriage on a corner of the building and limped home under difficulties. Success Confirmed When the third wave, which included Warrant Officer Hawke’s plane, arrived over the target, there was little to be seen but a column of smoke and dust, into the middle of which they dropped their bombs. Reports from the Resistance Movement later confirmed the success of the raid and the accurate bombing of the Mosquitos. Both buildings housing the Gestapo were demolished and all the precious records destroyed. Of the personnel of the Gestapo, 148 were killed, including the chief of the Danish Gestapo, who was the particular dread of the Danes. Not only this, but the corner was taken off the building in which the political prisoners were housed and many of them escaped, some of them reaching Sweden. For his share in this exploit. Warrant Officer Hawke was presented with a set of cuff-links inscribed with the royal monogram of the King of Denmark. These links were sent by the Danish Resistance Movement to all the men participating in this raid and in the subsequent attacks on Gestapo headquarters at Copenhagen and Odense.

The citation accompanying the links read as follows:—“You and your comrades’ magnificent feat in destroying the Gestapo headquarters at Aarhus. Copenhagen and Odense will remain for ever in the memory of the Danish Patriots. On behalf of the Danish Resistance Movement, we ask you to accept these links as a token of the close friendship and esteem existing between our two countries ... a friendship which your gallant deeds have strengthened even more.” Warrant Officer Hawke was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on December 29, 1944, the citation referring to him as a navigator of outstanding skill and efficiency who participated in many attacks against road and rail transport with • success . and made a valuable contribution to his squadron’s achievements.