RNZAF Ramrod raid on Amsterdam. May 3rd 1943

[Alex van de Wetering]

Ventura AE731 / EG-O was the next plane to be hit by a German fighter. The instrument panel was damaged and the cockpit windows completely shot to pieces. The plane was almost impossible to control and a fire broke out, at which point Pilot Tayler gave the order to bail. Taylor found his parachute to be peppered by German bullets and decided to go down with the plane, thinking the other 3 had already left the plane. When the plane dove down, it was suddenly possible to somewhat control the plane again and Taylor belly landed the plane at the eastern edge of Haarlem. Locals quickly rushed to the site where the plane landed and helped all crew members from the plane. Gunner George Tattam shortly died afterwards, having been hit by German bullets shortly before the plane hit the ground.

George Tattam was buried at the Bergen Cemetery, right next to his other 487sq comrads, Coshall and Sparkes.
Shapiro, Littlewood and Tayler were taken prisoner.

crew:
Pilot P/O. T.L.B. Taylor
Observer P/O. M.B. Shapiro (RAF)
Wireless op Sgt. L.J. Littlewood (RAF)
Air gunner Sgt. G.T. Tattam (RAF)

The Log book of George Tattam is on display at "Fort Veldhuis in Heemskerk" (picture)

[Alex van de Wetering]

Ventura AE731 / EG-O

The location of the belly landing is given as "Zomerweg, Haarlem". Today the Zomerweg has disappeared and the Polder area has now been turned into a large residential area (Schalkwijk). However, its known that the plane landed at the Zomerweg, next to a community garden complex "Ons Buiten", which still exists today! At the entrance of "Ons Buiten" there is a monument with a display sign.
The prop blade is not one of the actual ventura, but a WW2 blade that was found in the North sea.

The picture attached shows the actual Ventura after the belly landing (picture from "Ons Buiten"). The plane remained at the site for at least a week, which meant a lot of locals came to have a look.

Also attached is a picture of a small piece of remaining Polder near the site. This is what most of the area would have looked like in 1943.

Alex

[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