RNZAF Ramrod raid on Amsterdam. May 3rd 1943

[Mike K]

Excellent research Alex

The RAF seemed to persist with daylight raids on specific targets despite the horrific high losses of aircrew. Reminds me of the disastrous daylight raid when a whole squadron of Blenheims was shot down early in the war while on a daytime raid. You would have thought that the powers in command would have learnt something from the earlier disasters but apparently not.
The England test cricketer Bill Edrich was a Blenheim pilot , his book describes daylight raids he flew in attacking enemy shipping with high RAF casualties , the German flak was muderous .

[Alex van de Wetering]

Thanks Mike! I recently read an article on daylight raids in WW2. It seems they were very successfull sometimes, but in other cases it was the opposite with high losses of planes and crews as a result....or civilian casualties.
487sq also did a raid on the Railway workshops in Haarlem about 3 weeks before the raid on Amsterdam (april 16 1943). Unfortunately no bombs actually hit the target, but all bombs landed in a residential area.

It seems they did adjust the tactics all the time.....with extra support planes at different altitudes and diversionary attacks.

Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

The remaining Ventura's were still making their way to the target in Amsterdam, when Ventura AE780 / EG-S was the next to be attacked. The plane broke apart in mid air over the city centre of Amsterdam. The plane crashed at the "Van Bossestraat" damaging several houses and eventually ending up in the backyard of "Van Bossestraat 34". 3 of the crew were killed, along with 7 civilians. Gunner Sgt. Urlich was injured, but did survive the crash.

Reports in the city archives of Amsterdam show that plane pieces were found all over West Amsterdam.

For some perspective....the Van Bossestraat is just a few blocks away from where Anne Frank was hiding at the time, nowadays the Anne Frank house museum.
Anne also describes seeing an air battle over the city in her diary. Some suggest this was the Ventura that crashed at the Van Bossestraat, but she dates it as may 18 and mentions she heared that 4 Canadian crew members survived of the 6 man crew, which leads me to believe this had to be another plane and another occasion.....possibly from the raid on the Gas works in the South of Amsterdam on May 17.

crew:
Pilot F/O. S. McGowan
Nav ba F/O. E.G. Thornber (RCAF)
Wireless op Sgt. C.R. Smith
Air gunner Sgt. I.F. Urlich

The three crew members were buried at the Nieuwe Oosterbegraafplaats in Amsterdam.

https://www.verliesregister.studiegr...rea=&airfield=

[Alex van de Wetering]

Ventura AE713 / EG-T Crashed in Oostzaan, north of the Noordzee Kanaal, West of the target in Amsterdam-Noord. All 4 crew members were killed.

In 1994 the Aircraft Recovery group 1940-1945 located and recovered sections of the plane. The parts are now on display at Fort Veldhuis in Heemskerk (picture attached)
More on the recovery can be found here:
http://www.arg1940-1945.nl/ventura%2...pagina%201.htm

Crew:
Pilot F/O. S.B. Peryman
Nav ba F/O. E.T. Williams (RAF)
Wo ag Sgt. G.H. Southam (RAF)
Air gunner Sgt. J.E. Addison (RAF)

The crew have found their final resting place at the Nieuwe Oosterbegraafplaats in Amsterdam, next to the crew of the Ventura that crashed at the Van Bossestraat.


In the 40's the crash site was polder, with the occasional farm. Today there is a Hotel, a small industrial area, but some farmland still remains. A few years ago when electricity firm Tennet was looking at expending, a survey was done of the area to search for possible explosives from WW2. This survey also mentioned the crash site of the Ventura, but also the crashsite of a Halifax that crashed a few weeks later.
https://docplayer.nl/9969145-Voorond...-oostzaan.html

https://www.verliesregister.studiegr...rea=&airfield=

Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

Only three minutes later (17:56) Ventura AE716 / EG-U crashed at the Grote IJpolder.

In a lot of publications, the crash site is marked at Oostzaan, very close to the crash site of Ventura AE713 / EG-T , but this is not correct. The Grote IJpolder was in fact located to the South of the Noordzeekanaal. The polder has since disappeared and is now the big industrial area we call "Sloterdijk" or more precisely "Westpoort". Today port facilities and canals make it difficult to find the correct spot of the crash site, but than I found this website :

This website shows the result of a detailed survey done for the City of Amsterdam to list all the locations where bombs were dropped, planes crashed etc. during WW2. The team researched original documents from the city archives, RAF aerial pictures, but also did actual radar ground survey at the sites. Some explosives have been removed, but others are still there!
The survey includes the detailed location of Ventura AE716 / EG-U, but also that of AE780 and AJ209.

Crashsite for AE716 is located next to what we call the Amerikahavenweg today.
The site is quite interesting, as one can select a specific location and than open a PDF with results of survey. I have attached a slide from the website, with the crashsite marked in red in the centre of the image. When you open the PDF you will also find a RAF aerial picture of the crashsite. It also describes that the Ventura remains were recovered in 1947 by the RAF.
https://data.amsterdam.nl/bommenkaart/RAP_430503D.pdf

More info:
https://www.verliesregister.studiegr...rea=&airfield=

Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

All 4 crewmembers of AE716 / EG-U were killed in the crash. They are buried at the "Rusthof" begraafplaats in Amersfoort.

crew:
Pilot P/O. T.J. Baynton
Navigator F/Sgt. H.C. Lamacraft (RAF)
Wo ag F/Sgt. P.H.R.B. Davies (RAF)
Air gunner Sgt. N.A. Price (RAF)

[Alex van de Wetering]

After the Ventura of T.J. Baynton had crashed at the Grote IJpolder, only 1 Ventura was still moving towards the Power Station.....AJ209 / EG-V of Squadron leader Trent.
Trent was able to shoot down a Messerschmidt 109 with his frontmounted guns, dropped the bombs on the target, shortly before his Ventura was also hit, probably by FLAK. The Ventura broke apart in mid air. Philips and Trent were thrown clear of the wreckage in midair and pulled their parachutes. The other two crewmembers went down with the plane.


crew:
Pilot S/L. L.H. Trent (RAF)
Observer F/Lt. V. Phillips (RAF)
Nav ba F/O. R.D.C. Thomas (RAF)
Air gunner Sgt. G.W. Trenery (RAF)

Crewmembers Thomas and Trenery were buried at the Nieuwe Oosterbegraafplaats in Amsterdam.

Trent and Philips were taken prisoner, but there story didn't end there. Trent ended up in prison camp "Stalag Luft III" and was part of what became known as "the great escape" on march 24 1944. Trent was the last POW to come out of the tunnel and was quickly re-captured by the Germans. Fortunately he was not among the group of escapees that were executed. Trent survived the war and it wasn't until after the liberation that the story of the raid on the Amsterdam Power station became known. Trent was awarded the Victoria cross for the Amsterdam raid.

The detailed location of the crashsite is again given by the city of Amsterdam website and is nowadays the "Monitorstraat". In 1943 the only street close to the crashsite was the "Kometensingel", which is given as the crash location in period documents.
Detailed PDF on the location: https://data.amsterdam.nl/bommenkaart/RAP_430503E.pdf

more info:
https://www.verliesregister.studiegr...rea=&airfield=

Alex