RAF

Disse sider er meget interessante, mest med info's fra min fars tid under WWII, hvor han blandt andet fløj en RNZAF DeHavilland Mosquito over Frankrig, Belgien, Tyskland og Danmark. Han var også med til "Karthago bør ødelægges", dvs. bombningen af Gestapo's hovedkontor i Shellhuset, København.

Wing Commander Richard Peel

Wing Commander Richard Peel blev født d. 22. nov. 1906.

Han kom ind i RAF i 1930 som bogholder og søgte i 1941 om at blive overført til operationel tjeneste. Fra september 1943 til krigens afslutning gjorde Richard Peel tjeneste som navigatør i en New Zealandsk RAF Mosquito eskadrille.

Han deltog bl.a. i operation Overlord, kodenavnet for invasionen i Frankrig d. 6. juni 1944 med mange togter som beskyttelse for de mange soldater.

Richard Peel var sammen med piloten Kemp blandt de folk, der blev udpeget til angrebet på Shellhuset. Af hans logbog kan man se, at angrebet på Shellhuset måske nok har været en usædvanlig og vanskelig opgave, men ikke i sig selv en begivenhed, der har påkaldt sig mere opmærksomhed, end alle de andre operationer, han deltog i.

Efter krigen fortsatte Richard Peel sin tjeneste i RAF og var udstationeret i en række lande. Efter sin pensionering var Richard Peel ansat som lærer på en privat kostskole i Farnham.                                            

Richard Peel døde d. 28. marts 1987  og er  begravet på  Sønderho Gamle Kirkegård, Fanø.

 
 

 

SÅDAN VAR DET OFTE I ENGLAND DA KRIGEN VAR PÅ SIT HØJESTE

 

Min far ( til højre ), Richard Peel i RAF sammen med squadron leader John Ellacombe

 see also  John Ellacombe, DFC, pilot to Richard BOB Peel

Mosquito pinpoint Raids, putting it straight,

operation Carthago -  by Bob [Kirk]  Kirkpatrick

 

Embry originally wanted to use 30 Mossies, the final decision was 20 and in Bateson's words 'a compromise'. One has to bear in mind that on all the previous ops carried out, apart from a few, a large number of a/c were used to attack the targets.
 
On Amiens 19, Aarhus, 26, Shell House 20, Odense 6. Bateson sucessfully led the attack on the Hague Central Registry with just 6 Mossies. Both Bateson and Embry put forward valid arguments for each case. I have posed this question to all the Mossie aircew members on 140 Wing and many have said that having so many a/c was overkill, not under control and asking for trouble. In hindsight I suppose that Shell House could easily have been attacked by 6-7 Mossies, whether this would have negated the possibility of one or more crashing on a civilian target is not worth discussion. As it turned out only 7 a/c eventually attacked Shell House, 5 in the first wave and 2 from the second.   We cannot change history, it happened despite extensive planning and thorough briefing, that is war.
 
Embry wanted to make sure that the target was destroyed by weight of numbers, he clearly stated his case in the BBC documentary but at the end of the day he was at loggerheads with Bateson, clearly they did not agree on the numbers. Kleboe's collision with the light mast was due to a number of factors, weather, salt spray, lack of low-level flying experience and bad luck.
 
Hugh and Bob are right in saying that Amiens, Aarhus and Odense were by far much more successful. If we are to look at the results, then Aarhus comes off as a clear no. 1 with Odense a close second. Amiens being the first of its type was blown out of proportion, most of the prisoners were either killed or re-captured and the RAF lost 2 Mossies, only part of the fighter escort took part. The target was easy to locate in a small town and not in a built up area.Shell House was clearly a difficult target but again I have to agree with Bateson, a small force could have easily destroyed it.