Captain Evans, Monty and the Flying Fortress - an update

Monty with the crew of Theresa Leta (Bobbie Kinnear collection)

Regular readers may remember that in February 2014, I recounted some of the exploits of Captain (later Colonel) Richard E Evans USAAF and his crew when they were flying the Theresa Leta, B17 Flying Fortress which General Bernard Law Montgomery had 'won' in what was thought by General Eisenhower to be a light-hearted wager but which the deadly serious British general had insisted be 'paid out' to him.

Monty 'Learning the Ropes' (Bobbie Kinnear collection)

At the time of writing the second part of the story, I had a feeling that my crew list was incomplete but following a further meeting in London with Bobbie, her husband John and daughter Kate, I was alerted to a book called "Victory Mail of World War II; V-Mail, The Funny Mail" by Captain James W Hudson, who was heavily involved in the setting up of this vital morale boosting method of communicating with home for the boys posted overseas.

Monty at the controls (Bobbie Kinnear collection)

Although Hudson was based in Egypt running the V-Mail system, his official title was 'Senior Photographic Officer in the US Army Forces, Middle East' and thus in November 1943, he was appointed to be Photographic Censor for the Cairo Conference between Winston Churchill and President Franklin D Roosevelt  and ended up taking many of the photos of this event himself. Later still, he was at the 'Big Three' conference in Tehran, when Prime Minister and President were joined by Soviet Leader, Josef Stalin and it was during this period that Hudson got to fly in the Theresa Leta along with some illustrious passengers.

Bobbie has subsequently most kindly sent me a copy of the book, as well as some of the original photos that form part of her collection and which also appear in the book - perhaps originally taken by James Hudson.

As a result of reading Hudson's chapter on the Theresa Leta and her crew, as well as Captain Evans' as yet unpublished memoir, we can now show the complete crew list, their rank and position aboard Theresa Leta and where known, their hometown in the USA.

The Crew of the Theresa Leta:

Captain Richard E Evans (Pilot) (Tennessee)
Lieutenant Fred I Johnson (Co-Pilot) (Logansport, Indiana)
2nd Lieutenant Albert L Beringsmith (Bombardier) (Chicago, Illinois)
2nd Lieutenant Thomas Carver (Navigator) (Alameda, California)
Tech. Sergeant Dale Owens (Flight Engineer)
Staff Sergeant Francis (Frank) R Morris (Radio Operator) (Soodenow, Illinois)
Staff Sergeant Victor Kennedy (Waist Gunner) (Tylertown, Mississippi)
Tech. Sergeant Lewis (Top Turret)
Staff Sergeant Austin (Ball Turret)
Staff Sergeant Charles (Chuck) W Ward (Tail Gunner) (Albuquerque, New Mexico)

Also after writing the first series of articles, I received an email from Lee Beringsmith, the son of the Bombardier, Albert L Beringsmith. Lee spoke very highly of Captain Evans and recalled that his father felt that he was the best pilot in the squadron and gladly swapped places with another bombardier who suffered from nervous problems and wanted off Captain Evans' crew. Lee also kindly recounted an amusing story but one in which we see Monty's sometimes well hidden 'human' side which showed his insistence at nothing but the best for the men under his command:

"My Dad told me that when they reached Cairo, Monty had them check into the Cairo Hilton as part of his personal staff. As Monty left the B17, he told Captain Evans to call him if there were any problems. When they got to the front desk at the hotel, the rather rude clerk informed them that there were no rooms available. Captain Evans asked to use the phone and reached Monty. He passed the phone to the clerk and said 'General Montgomery would like to speak to you.' The desk clerk rolled his eyes, picked up the receiver and suddenly snapped to attention, saying ' Yes sir, yes sir, right away sir.' Needless to say, rooms were somehow magically found and the crew got a well deserved rest from their combat missions."

I am indebted to Bobbie Kinnear as always for her generous sharing of her family photographs and to Lee Beringsmith for his email and shared anecdotes.

Published Sources:

Victory Mail of World War II: V-Mail, the Funny Mail - Captain James W Hudson, Xlibris Corporation 2007

Unpublished Sources:

Unpublished memoir of Colonel Richard E Evans USAF

Captain Evans, Monty and the Flying Fortress - Part Two

Richard Evans (left) and some of his crew with Monty (Bobbie Kinnear)

Having duly met King George VI and having found him to be, as Monty had predicted "A very nice chap", the time soon came for Captain Evans and his crew to start the work for which they had been selected.

This was on a flight from Tripoli to Cairo and as well as Montgomery, the B-17 carried a full party of VIPs, amongst them General Henry Maitland Wilson, known as ‘Jumbo’ due to his large size as well as the ever present ‘Freddie’ de Guingand. The atmosphere was relaxed as the crew of the bomber gave their British guests an impromptu tour of the aircraft, even allowing the British Generals the opportunity to squeeze into some of the gun positions. Whilst all this was going on, Monty was settled into his small office area that had been set up in the converted bomb bay and carried on with his paperwork. Monty seemed – and was – an austere type but ‘Freddie’ had earlier spoken to Captain Evans and reassured him that Monty’s “disinclination to smile” as he put it, was nothing to worry about and that Monty could be “a most pleasant fellow” in the right circumstances.

Gen. Sir Henry 'Jumbo' Wilson (IWM)

During the course of the flight, Evans noticed that the oil pressure indicator on the B-17’s number 3 engine was showing a very slight drop in pressure. There was nothing particularly untoward in this; the desert environment was extremely tough on aircraft engines with sand constantly being ingested into the cylinders and gradually wearing the pistons, thus allowing oil to leak slowly into the space and escape into the airstream. Although this was a slow process at first, for an older aircraft like Theresa Leta unless the engines were replaced at regular intervals, these leaks would steadily get worse.

Even so, it was nothing to worry about, the B-17 could quite easily fly on three engines if required and as a precaution Evans decided to shut down or ‘feather’ no. 3 engine to save wear and tear and then re-start it on approach to Cairo so as to have full power available for landing. Whilst this was a slightly unusual procedure, for an experienced pilot like Richard Evans it was not an issue to cause concern. Even so, when Lieut. Johnson, the co-pilot enquired whether he should inform the passengers of the developments, Evans wisely decided against it, so as not to cause them undue alarm. Despite the wisdom of this decision, it was one which was to have repercussions for Evans – and for Monty. Leaving Theresa Leta on autopilot, Evans decided to go back and speak to his passengers and passing Monty in his office, he casually invited him up to the flight deck, having completely forgotten that his bomber was flying on three engines!

Lieut. Johnson was despatched to stretch his legs and to free up the co-pilot’s seat for Monty, who settled in gingerly. Evans felt that he was making real progress with his British master, who for the first time began to relax and speak with some freedom. It was clear that he was enjoying the flight as he spoke to Evans about his time in the British Army and his exploits against Rommel.

During this conversation, the British General suddenly noticed something and rasped in a very un-Monty like voice “It’s stopped, it’s stopped! The engine’s stopped – it’s not running!” Evans had been so engrossed in his conversation with Monty that he had completely forgotten that he had feathered the engine and now Monty had embarrassed himself in front of an American officer. Captain Evans tried his hardest to reassure Monty that there was no cause for alarm and even tried a little humour in telling the great man that Boeing had deliberately given the B-17 an excess of power just so that one engine could be switched off so as to rest it!

It was all to no avail and Monty stormed from the flight deck, clearly upset and embarrassed that his legendary calm demeanour should have cracked in front of an American officer and a fairly junior one at that. Evans cursed his forgetfulness and vowed never to let this happen again.

General George S Patton Jnr (US Army)

As well as incurring Monty’s displeasure, Evans also managed to upset the volatile American General George S Patton. This incident came when he was flying Monty and a B-17 full of distinguished British VIPs to Palermo for a conference with Patton regarding the ongoing campaign in Sicily. Apart from Montgomery himself, the passengers once again included ‘Freddie’ de Guingand and General ‘Jumbo’ Wilson, Eisenhower’s Deputy Commander.

Prior to the flight, General Patton had advised Monty that the airfield at Palermo “was satisfactory for all types of aircraft”, information that had been passed on to Evans. However, upon arrival over the airfield, it quickly became clear that Patton's aviation knowledge did not match his expertise in tank warfare. The runway looked alarmingly short for a large aircraft such as the B-17 and Evans growing apprehension could not have been helped by his then witnessing a C-47 transport aircraft, better known to the British as a Dakota and a much smaller aircraft than the B-17, run the full length of the runway before crashing in flames into the trees at one end of the airfield.

Perhaps fortunately for his passengers, they remained blissfully ignorant of affairs on the ground whilst Evans circled the field trying to assess the situation. The only positive that could be drawn was that the smoke billowing from the crashed C-47 provided an excellent indication of the wind speed and direction!

The question now for Evans was whether to attempt a landing and risk quite possible disaster, or to incur the possible displeasure of Montgomery and the certain wrath of Patton by aborting the whole operation as unsafe and returning to Gela. To add to the pressure on Captain Evans, he could already see General Patton on the ground, his polished steel helmet glistening in the Sicilian sunlight, impatiently awaiting the arrival of his British counterpart, for whom he was already developing an implacable loathing, something that would grow into an obsession by the time of the Normandy campaign a year or so later.

Against his better judgement, Evans decided to attempt a landing, confident in his own ability as a pilot to pull off a diagonal landing across the field, thus maximising the available limited space. Touching down into the brisk headwind all seemed well at first but an initial touch of the brakes revealed that the brakes on Theresa Leta had failed and that an already perilous landing on a short field was now being turned into something altogether more hazardous.

Thinking quickly, Evans decided to try to ‘ground loop’ the big bomber in an attempt to avoid meeting the same fate as the C-47 that he had seen crash earlier and indeed to avoid ploughing into it’s wreckage. This was achieved by using the engine throttles on the port wing of the aircraft to make a fast, powered turn to effectively reverse course on the ground.

Through superb skill and a little luck, Evans managed to turn a potential disaster into a very rough landing, almost a controlled crash and taxied the B-17 up to about fifty feet from where General Patton was waiting to greet his British guests. No sound could be heard from the on-board VIPs and certainly no sound was coming from General Montgomery’s makeshift office created in the bomb bay of the B-17. Outside the bomber, it quickly became clear from General Patton’s expression that he was not impressed!

Patton in fact, had a face like thunder. Notwithstanding his intense dislike of Monty and all things British, even he considered that it was bad form for an American officer and a mere Captain at that, to go endangering the life of a British general!

Patton’s ‘greeting’ to Captain Evans was brief, to the point and typical of the man – “What kind of a landing do you call that?” he asked. Evans managed to stay surprisingly calm and replied that he had executed a deliberate ground loop to avoid crashing into the burning C-47. He also added that on reflection, he should not have attempted a landing and should have returned to Gela. Captain Evans repeated his apology directly to Monty but it was quickly apparent from the British General’s expression that he too was not best pleased with his American pilot. As for Patton, his face was now crimson and for a brief moment, Captain Evans felt that the apoplectic General might actually physically strike him.

However, without any further words spoken, both of the senior officers along with their entourages piled quickly into their transport and headed for their conferences. On their next meeting, after the conference, Monty gave Evans a “slight smile” as he probably realised that the American had in fact, saved his life.

Some books, notably ‘Patton, A Genius for War’ state that the B-17 was destroyed in this incident. This was not true and after some repairs, the bomber was quickly made airworthy once more.

Despite these early setbacks in their relationship, Monty soon became genuinely attached to ‘his’ crew, holding a sincere concern for their well being and mentioned this in a letter written later that summer, which was transcribed in full in Part One of this article, the original of which is now a proud possession of Richard Evans’ daughter, Bobbie Kinnear.   

"The crew of my Fortress are a fine body of officers and men and their comfort and well being is one of my first considerations. It is a very great honour for a British general to be flown about by an American crew in an American aircraft and I am very conscious of this fact."

The relationship between Monty and Evan’s and his crew quickly became one of mutual respect and friendship and another proud possession of Bobbie Kinnear today is a photograph that Richard Evans subtitled ‘Friends at last’ which shows a smiling Monty along with Captain Evans standing in front of the Theresa Leta.

Friends at Last - Monty & Captain Evans (Bobbie Kinnear)

Richard Evans continued to fly on combat missions out of Sicily, whilst still being on call to Montgomery and actually flew Monty back to the UK for the British General to begin work on planning the invasion of Europe.It was at this time that Monty requested that Evans should stay on as his personal pilot for the Normandy campaign and beyond. Evans declined as he wished to return to full time combat duties and although Monty was disappointed, he greatly respected this decision and wrote Captain Evans a generous and sincere letter of thanks, which must surely have been a useful item to have had in one’s Army Air Force Curriculum Vitae!

The letter is reproduced below and is written in the typical no nonsense style beloved of Monty but is obviously sincere as well as being to the point:

"On the occasion of the departure of you and your crew I would like to thank you all, each one of you, for the good work you have done whilst with me.

It has been a great pleasure to have had you serving with me, and with the Eighth Army.

Good-bye and the best of luck to you all, always."

Evans and his crew may have departed but true to his word, General Eisenhower provided Montgomery with an aircraft and crew right through to the end of the war in Europe, although given the way Monty later strained their relationship, there must have been times when Ike was sorely tempted to abandon the arrangement and make his British subordinate walk!

Monty's 'thank you' letter to Richard Evans and his crew (Bobbie Kinnear)

Richard Evans and his crew returned to combat duties, flying out of Italy on raids to Venice, Rome, Pisa, Austria and targets in Southern Germany before completing fifty missions in 1944 and returning home to the USA. He then trained to fly the B-29 Superfortress for combat missions in the Pacific and actually flew three raids on Japan out of Tinian before being ordered to return to the USA in order to bring another wing of B-29s out to Tinian. The war ended before he could achieve this and instead he was ordered to fly a B-29 to Delhi and then return to Okinawa.

Evans left the USAAF in 1946 to become a financial planner in Pasadena, although he continued as a reservist. In 1952, he re-entered the Air Force as a Colonel and was made head of operations for the development of the new B-47 bomber at MacDill AFB, Florida. He did all of the flying scenes in the movie ‘Strategic Air Command’, starring James Stewart (himself an Air Corps veteran) and flew B-47s out of Thule, Greenland and bases in England.

Evans left the Air Force in 1959 and became a consultant for Northrop Grumman in the B-1 Bomber competition as well as working as a consultant for Douglas on the C-5A transport aircraft.

Richard Evans died on June 13th 2006 and was buried with full military honours having loyally served his country and the Allied cause as well as achieving much for Anglo-American relations in the process.

I am indebted to Bobbie Kinnear for making her late father’s papers and unpublished memoirs available to me. It is to be hoped that these can be published in the future as the exploits of the unsung heroes of World War Two such as Richard E Evans and his crew deserve to be read by a wider audience.

The Crew of the Theresa Leta:

Captain Richard E Evans
Lieutenant Fred I Johnson (Co-Pilot)
2nd Lieutenant Albert L Beringsmith (Bombardier)
2nd Lieutenant Thomas Carver (Navigator)
Tech. Sergeant Dale Owens (Flight Engineer)
Staff Sergeant Francis (Frank) R Morris (Radio Operator)
Staff Sergeant Victor Kennedy (Waist Gunner)
Tech. Sergeant Lewis (Top Turret)
Staff Sergeant Austin (Ball Turret)
Staff Sergeant Charles (Chuck) W Ward (Tail Gunner)

Published Sources:

The Memoirs of Field Marshal The Viscount Montgomery of Alamein - Collins 1958

Unpublished Sources:

Unpublished Memoirs of Colonel Richard E Evans, USAF

Captain Evans, Monty and the Flying Fortress - Part One

Bernard Law Montgomery (IWM)

In early November 2013, I had the pleasure of guiding Bobbie and John Kinnear from Santa Barbara, USA on a private walk around Westminster’s wartime past. One of the pleasures of guiding is that one often meets the most interesting people and it was clear during our conversations both via email in planning the tour and whilst actually walking the ground that my clients not only knew their subject but also had a fascinating family connection with one of the major figures of World War Two, Bernard Law Montgomery.

Bobbie’s late father, Richard E Evans, was born in 1919 and after graduating from the University of Tennessee in 1939, won a local contest sponsored by the Tennessee Air National Guard for free pilot training. Later that year, he joined the Army Air Corps and trained on the Boeing Stearman biplane, before commencing his training on the then new B-17, a large four engine bomber, designed to deliver a large bomb load over long ranges, whilst at the same time being able to defend itself as part of a larger formation. In 1941, Evans became an instructor on the B-17 and following the USA’s entering of the war at the end of 1941, he attempted to get himself posted to England as part of the fledgling Eighth Air Force but was turned down owing to his experience as an instructor. In January 1943 however, he was able to convince Colonel Fay Upthegrove, who was taking the 99th Bombardment Group to North Africa, into taking Evans along as one of his senior pilots and on the 20th of that month, the group flew to North Africa.

Colonel Fay Upthegrove (www.99bombgroup.org)

Captain Evans was part of 346th Bomb Squadron, 99th Bombardment Group, which formed part of the 12th Air Force in the North African Theatre of Operations, based in Algeria. At this time, 12th Air Force was operating in support of Allied land forces who were striving to eject Axis forces from North Africa. The Supreme Allied Commander was the then relatively little known Lieut-General Dwight D Eisenhower and one of his subordinate Army Commanders was the victor of El Alamein, Bernard Law Montgomery, or ‘Monty’ as he was universally known to the British, serviceman and civilian alike. Monty had given Britain her first major land victory over the Wehrmacht and had achieved this unaided, with British and Empire manpower alone.

This was an important victory, not only from a strategic point of view but also politically. The British effort in the war was now to be steadily overshadowed by the increasingly massive effort from the USA, both in manpower and industrial might, so it was vital to show our American allies that the British Army could beat the German war machine and that the British would not be ‘fighting to the last drop of American blood’ as some cynics on both sides of the Atlantic would believe. Monty, supremely confident in his own ability to the point of conceit, was just the man to provide this victory, although he was to prove almost as difficult a subordinate to Ike as he was an enemy to Rommel.

So, when Captain Evans was summoned to Colonel Upthegrove’s office, he could have had no idea that his life as an American officer was to become intertwined, for the next few months at least, with Britain’s great hero. Captain Evans had flown 27 missions out of a possible full combat tour of 50 or even 60 missions, so a return home was hardly on the agenda. Neither was a promotion to Major, so Evans must have been wondering what he had done to warrant this summons to his senior officer. The prospect of meeting his C.O. held few worries for Evans, for he knew that he had done nothing wrong and that Colonel Upthegrove, or ‘Uppie’ as he was informally known behind his back, was a decent and fair man, who would not be summoning him for petty or trivial reasons.

On arriving at his C.O.’s tent that passed as an office, Evans was soon put out of his misery and must have been astounded when he read his orders:

 “…by order of General Eisenhower’s Supreme Allied Headquarters, Algiers, through General Doolittle’s Twelfth Air Force Headquarters, Constantine, Algeria.”

“Captain Richard E Evans, AO-397378, 99th Bombardment Group, 12th Air Force, North Africa, ETO, is hereby relieved of his current duty assignment, is transferred to British 8th Army, and is directed to report without delay to The Army Commander, General Sir Bernard Law Montgomery.”

“A combat ready B-17 with full ammo and combat aircrew will be assigned to Captain Evans for the period of this duty.”

The All American - another B17E from 99th Bomb Group

Evans was astonished by these orders and this astonishment was transparent enough to assure Uppie that he had not been pulling a ‘fast one’ behind the Colonel’s back in order to escape further combat operations. Upthegrove had initially wondered whether Evans had family connections with Doolittle, Eisenhower, or even Monty, so he was as confused as Evans as to how and why his name had been pulled from the hat.

Evans next task was to select a crew. This was a simple task as he instinctively chose the men with whom he had been flying since bringing his B-17 across from the States; these were men that he trusted with his life and it would have been unthinkable for him to have chosen any other crew. Evans impressed upon his crew the nature of their assignment and also informed them what Uppie had told them – not to allow any harm to come to their illustrious passenger, otherwise none of them, Evans, his crew or Upthegrove, would ever hear the last of it!

Evans was mystified as to why Montgomery, a British General, should require the services of a B-17, an American aircraft, complete with crew and although the great man himself was to explain the reason personally to Evans in due course, perhaps now is a good time to put the record straight.

Eighth Army had captured Sfax on 10th April and at a previous meeting with Ike’s Chief of Staff, General Walter Bedell Smith, Monty had undertaken to capture this city no later than 15th April. Smith had told Monty that if this could be achieved, then General Eisenhower would give Monty anything he asked for. Monty, taking Smith to his word said that he would like the services of a B-17 aircraft, complete with crew for his personal use. Smith agreed, thinking that this was a semi-jocular remark by Monty. The British General however, was not well known for his sense of humour and was deadly serious; he realised that flying in a combat zone was a hazardous occupation and had hitherto been using a twin engine DC3 aircraft. Reliable enough, but unarmed and vulnerable to attack; a B-17 with four engines would give him greater comfort and reliability and would also be able to defend itself against any Germans who had gotten wind of Monty’s travel arrangements.

So, when Sfax was duly taken ahead of schedule, Monty insisted that the bet, however light heartedly it had been taken by Smith, be ‘paid up.’ Eisenhower, being the great and honourable man that he was, realised that Monty was being serious and supplied the aircraft on 16th April, which is where Captain Evans and his crew came in!

Monty inspects 'his' crew - Richard E Evans on left (Bobbie Kinnear)

It is possible that the seeds of Monty’s unpopularity in some American quarters were sewn with this incident. Eisenhower was beginning to recognise that in Monty he had a great General but another ‘Prima Donna’ to rank alongside Patton to cope with. Monty’s ‘bet’ also got him into hot water with his British superior officer; General Alan Brooke, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, who reminded Monty that as far as Ike was concerned, the whole thing was a joke that had gotten out of hand. Brooke also pointed out that the RAF could have supplied Monty with a modern four engine aircraft, such as a Lancaster or a Halifax, to which Monty replied that indeed the RAF could have – but hadn’t, despite his repeated requests!

Monty’s own theory on the matter was that Bedell Smith had omitted to mention to Ike his initial promise of an aircraft to Monty and that when the British General had approached Eisenhower demanding ‘his’ aircraft, this was actually the first that he had heard of the proposal. This explanation is plausible and to someone like Monty, who had little in the way of social or diplomatic skills, it was all something quite simple – a bet had been made and it was time to pay up!

All this was unknown to Captain Evans and his crew as they flew into Tripoli in the ‘new’ B-17 that had been selected for this strange assignment. The bomber was not actually new at all but rather an elderly (by B-17 standards) machine named Theresa Leta. Evans never did find out exactly after whom the bomber had been named but it seemed bad luck to change it, especially when he discovered that this was the very bomber that General James Doolittle had flown down from the UK to North Africa during the Allied invasion of that continent. Theresa Leta was a B-17E; not the latest model but still a fine aircraft for a General Officer to have as his personal transport.

Later, Monty would write Evans a personal explanation of the reasons behind his getting hold of a B-17 which read as follows:

"The Fortress aircraft was given to me by General Eisenhower in April 1943, after I had captured SFAX. He came to visit me at my Army HQ shortly after the Battle of MARETH; it was the 2nd April and I was busy preparing to attack the AKARIT position and then to burst through the GABES Gap and out into the plain of central Tunisia.

Part of Monty's explanatory letter to Evans (Bobbie Kinnear)

I told General Eisenhower that when I had captured SFAX there would be need for considerable co-ordination between the action of the Allied Armies in Tunisia and this might mean a good deal of travelling about for me. I asked him if he would give me a Fortress (B17); the splendid armament of these aircraft makes an escort quite unnecessary and I would be able to travel at will and to deal easily with any enemy opposition. I said I would make him a present of SFAX by the middle of April and if he would then give me a Fortress it would be magnificent. I captured SFAX on 10th April and the Fortress was sent to me a few days later.

I have travelled many miles in it and it has saved me much fatigue. I have no hesitation in saying that having my own Fortress aircraft, so that I can travel about at will, has definitely contributed to the successful operations of the Eighth Army. I cannot express adequately my gratitude to General Eisenhower for giving it to me; he is a splendid man to serve under and it is a pleasure to be under his command.

The crew of my Fortress are a fine body of officers and men and their comfort and well-being is one of my first considerations.

It is a very great honour for a British general to be flown about by an American crew in an American aircraft and I am very conscious of this fact.

BL Montgomery

General

Eighth Army" 

Upon landing at Tripoli, Theresa Leta was met by a British lorry, the driver of which gestured to Evans to follow him, and guided by their British Allies, the B-17 lurched across the steel planking to it’s designated parking place, where Captain Evans and his crew were met by a moustachioed, very senior looking British General, who turned out to be the irrepressible General Francis De Guingand, known to all and sundry as “Freddie”, the immensely popular (and very able) Chief of Staff to General Montgomery himself. This was quite a welcome but the friendly British officer soon put Evans at ease and promptly invited the Captain and his crew to the following day’s victory celebrations which were to be attended by no less a dignitary than King George VI himself! 

General Francis 'Freddie' De Guingand (IWM)

 

After explaining the whereabouts of the crew’s accommodation and the arrangements for parking the B-17, Evans was whisked off to visit the great man himself outside his headquarters tent. Up until now, Evans had hardly had time to be nervous but his disposition could hardly have been improved when upon being introduced to his new pilot, Monty stared hard and uncomprehending at the Captain, before turning on his heels and walking straight into his tent without uttering a single word to the now bewildered American officer! 

With great presence of mind, Captain Evans decided to follow Monty into his tent to make certain he had taken on board his arrival and upon entering the tent, Evans found the Eighth Army Commander sitting at his desk, seemingly immersed in paperwork. Monty did not look up but gestured to Evans to sit down and upon his doing so, greeted him with a warm smile and stated how pleased he was to meet him! The ice was broken and Montgomery repeated the invite given earlier by De Guingand to attend the victory celebrations on the next day and to meet the King, before mentioning Evans’ first official mission, which would be to fly Monty to Cairo in a couple of days time. 

Monty was not an easy man to know or to work for and Evans would incur the great man’s displeasure quite early in their association, in fact on Monty’s first flight in the Theresa Leta.

In the next edition of this blog, we shall see how Captain Evans managed to unnerve the usually unflappable British General, as well as upsetting Monty's great rival, General George S Patton, during his tour as Monty's pilot.

Published Sources:

The Memoirs of Field Marshal The Viscount Montgomery of Alamein - Collins 1958

Unpublished Sources:

Unpublished Memoirs of the late Colonel Richard E Evans, USAF

An eyewitness account

The aftermath of the V-1 strike on Charlton Station, June 1944 (Greenwich Heritage Centre)

Back in December 2012, this blog featured a story about my own locality of Charlton in southeast London and the impact of the war, particularly the Blitz and the V weapons on what was (and is) a typical suburb of our capital city.

Some articles seem to generate more a response from the readership than others, so I have been delighted to recently receive correspondence from two people related to a victim of the V-1 strike against Charlton Railway Station on Friday, June 23rd 1944.

The first reply came from Kate Shelton, now resident in the USA but whose great grandfather was William Oliver Brown, a member of the Home Guard who perished in this incident. William was a member of the Home Guard and lived close to the station in Wolfe Crescent. Kate was interested in discovering whether her great grandfather's name was recorded anywhere in the borough as there was no monument at the station.

Much more recently, I received a communication from Joan Longley, who is William's daughter and Kate's great aunt, who is still resident in southeast London, in the Upper Norwood area and who was keen to share her memories of the fateful day. 

Joan very kindly emailed me an extract from her family memoirs, which is reprinted below with permission:

"My father, William Oliver Brown, was killed on Charlton Station whilst on Home Guard duty. It was June 23rd 1944. he was 38 years old. We don't know for sure whether he was actually on duty at the station or was on his way to somewhere else. He worked at the BBC as a radio engineer. His name is on the war memorial there. Whether he was attached to his local Home Guard or attached to a group at the BBC I do not know but he was in uniform when he was killed so was given a military funeral, I remember it well. I was eight years old at the time of his death. On that day my mother had sent me with an older sister on an errand to buy some fish for my father's tea. 

The siren had been going on and off all day and we had spent a lot of time in the Anderson shelter but then there was a lull so my mother sent us off to Charlton Village to buy the fish. We hadn't gone far when the siren went again; we looked up in the sky and saw the doodlebug, we heard its drone and saw its flaming tail. Someone shouted to us - a window cleaner I think - to lie flat on the ground. My sister opened someone's front gate and we took shelter in their front garden. By now the doodlebug was silent and it was right above our heads. I could no longer hear its droning noise or see its flaming tail. 'Its going to drop on us', I say to my sister 'We are going to be killed.' Within seconds we heard and felt the loud explosion. It had fallen somewhere else nearby and we were still alive. We were ecstatic with joy and continued our journey to the Village where everyone was agog with speculation as to where the bomb had dropped. Some said it was the UGB (United Glass Bottle Company) where my big brother Billy worked. We thought Billy might have been killed. Then some said the station had been hit and we knew our Dad had gone to the station earlier so we wondered if he too might be dead. 

We bought the fish and anxiously made our way home. My Mother was very relieved to see us back safely but anxious to know where bomb had dropped.  Families were used to these situations and of course were always anxious if there was a raid whilst loved ones were not safe at home. News travelled fast in those anxious times but was not always correct. My mother tells us we must stay calm. Billy aged 16 gets home late; my Mother bursts into tears when he arrives. The station has been hit he says. My Mother tells him to go down to the station to find out about our Dad, he hasn't come home for his tea. The fish is left uncooked; the siren goes again and we all end up in the Anderson shelter cuddling each other for comfort. 

Everyone is thinking the worse. It is some hours before we know for sure that my father was one of the people killed by the station bomb - the actual doodlebug I had seen flying in the sky earlier that day. We are all frightened and confused. That day was the first time I had seen my mother cry, before that I believed that mothers never cried. I have never forgotten that day 71 years ago."

How an 8 year old must have felt at the events going on around her which culminated in the loss of her father can only be imagined and the above extract makes very poignant reading indeed.

Bomb damage on Charlton Station still unrepaired in 1961 (Greenwich Heritage Centre)

Some further research reveals that William was a member of the 5th County of London Battalion, based at St. Marylebone, close to the BBC where he was employed as an engineer, so he was presumably either on his way to commence his duties, or to perhaps buy a ticket for his later journey to go on duty, when the missile hit the station. Somewhat unusually, he is recorded twice on the excellent Commonwealth War Graves Commission website's casualty lists, firstly as a civilian casualty of the Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich and secondly as a Private in the Home Guard. William is buried at nearby Hither Green Cemetery, still in his native southeast London.

William Brown's grave at Hither Green Cemetery (author's photo)

Charlton Station itself remained a ruin for another twenty five years. A collection of temporary shacks built onto the former Coal Yard became a semi-permanent feature of the local landscape and it was not until 1969 that the station was finally rebuilt into the style we see today.

Many thanks are due to Kate and especially to Joan for being kind enough to share her memories of what must have been a traumatic day for her and her family.

Discovering Wartime Chelsea

Wartime memorabilia at the Royal Hospital (author's photo)

 

I was recently lucky enough to guide a small family group from New York for a whole day exploring various aspects of London's wartime past and for part of this day, we took a walk around Chelsea, an area that perhaps does not at first thought appear synonymous with this most violent part of our capital city's recent history but is nevertheless an area which suffered heavily not just during the Blitz of 1940-41 but also suffered it's fair share of the later V-1 and V-2 weapons of 1944-45. 

However, it was coincidental that we happened to take our walk on the 74th anniversary to the day of an air raid that became particularly engrained on the history of this historic borough - April 16th/17th 1941 - a raid so ferocious that it became known to Londoners of the time simply as 'The Wednesday' and one which recurs with a terrifying regularity in the history of wartime Chelsea.

We started our walk outside Sloane Square Underground Station. This station was originally opened to the public on 24th December 1868 by the Metropolitan District Railway as part of that company’s first section of line between South Kensington and Westminster. In 1872, the company connected with the erstwhile rival Metropolitan Railway’s tracks at South Kensington and the Inner Circle, predecessor of today’s Circle Line began to operate, although the full circuit was not completed until 1884. In 1939, the station began an extensive upgrade as part of London Transport’s ‘New Works Scheme’ which included the installation of escalators, the first of their kind on a sub-surface line. The works were completed on 27th March 1940 but to no avail, because on 12th November 1940, the station was struck by a HE Bomb causing the modernized station to be almost totally destroyed. 

Tragically, 36 people were killed and a further 79 seriously injured, mostly aboard a train which had been leaving the station when the bomb struck and which caused large pieces of rubble to fall onto the train carriages. The station was rebuilt again after the war and today the only clue to the damage can be seen from the platforms where the stubs of the original cast iron supports to the old glazed station roof are still visible protruding from the retaining walls above the platforms. 

From this location, we exited the station forecourt and proceeded across Sloane Square, turning into Lower Sloane Street, before taking the first turning on the right into Turks Row. 

Self-explanatory plaque at Turk's Row (author's photo)

 

During the Second World War, the large apartment blocks known as Sloane Court and Sloane Court East were in use as billets for American Army personnel stationed in London. At about 8 a.m. on Monday July 3rd 1944, a V-1 Flying Bomb fell in the street outside Sloane Court East which completely destroyed this building. The death toll was horrendous – 74 American service personnel – including several women were killed along with 3 British civilians and with many more injured. 

An eye-witness to the immediate aftermath of this incident was Bill Figg, a young RAF serviceman on leave in his home area of Chelsea. After the war, Figg recalled what he saw and heard:

"I heard the unmistakeable sound of a V1, like a motorcycle without a silencer."

The missile struck, blowing Figg off his feet. He picked himself up and rushed around the corner into Turk's Row and was greeted by a scene of immense horror.

"I saw this Army truck with four bodies slumped over the back. In the middle of the road, there was a head. All down Sloane Court East, there were more bodies than you could shake a stick at. You just rolled over the bodies and felt the pulse. I must have rolled over twenty or thirty bodies but they were all glassy-eyed."

Reputedly the exact spot where the V1 fell (author's photo)

The casualties incurred by the WACs, or Women’s Army Corps to give them their full title, were the first suffered by them whilst serving overseas. Today, a plaque on the wall of the replacement building commemorates those who died whilst on the opposite side of the road another small plaque set in the pavement reputedly marks the very spot where the missile fell. 

Glenn Miller’s Army Air Force Band had been billeted at Sloane Court but had moved to RAF Twinwood near Bedford, the day before the V-1 struck. Concerned for the safety of his band, Miller had insisted on the move due to the number of V-1s falling in the vicinity at this time and faced with a lack of US Army transport – the local Motor Pool refused to work on a Sunday – he made a deal with the RAF to transport him and his band in return for performing a concert for the RAF personnel at the band’s new base. Thanks to his intuition, Miller undoubtedly saved his band from death or serious injury on the following day. As it was, Major Glenn Miller took off in foul weather from RAF Twinwood on December 15th 1944 in a Norseman light aircraft to play a concert in Paris for Allied servicemen but disappeared en route, never to be seen again. 

We left this once melancholy scene which now echoes to the cheerful sound of children playing in the school which today partially occupies the site and continued along Turks Row, turning left at the junction with Franklin’s Row and then right at the junction with Royal Hospital Road. 

The Royal Hospital, Chelsea was founded in 1682 by King Charles II and was intended ‘for the succour and relief of veterans broken by age and war’ and has fulfilled that role ever since, although today’s veterans are anything but broken by age and war being usually very sprightly ambassadors for the British Army. 

Royal Hospital Roll of Honour (author's photo)

Today, female as well as male pensioners are allowed – the qualification being that ‘in-pensioners’ as they are called, must be former Non Commissioned Officers or Soldiers of the British Army in receipt of an Army or War Service Pension who are normally over 65 years of age and who have no obligation to support a partner or family. Prior to the opening of the hospital, no specific provision had ever been made for old and retired soldiers. 

Designed by Sir Christopher Wren, the buildings were completed in 1692 and the first pensioners were admitted in February of that year. Parts of the hospital were damaged by German bombs in 1918, rebuilt in 1923 and damaged again during the Second World War. The hospital and grounds suffered extensive damage during this conflict, being bombed over 20 times starting in the early days of the Blitz in September 1940, right through to almost the end when a V-2 rocket fell in the grounds on 3rd January 1945 with the loss of 4 lives and 28 injured. 

The worst incident was on the night of 16th/17th April 1941, when the Infirmary was destroyed by a Parachute Mine with the loss of 15 lives and a further 50 serious injuries; the oldest of those in-pensioners killed was Henry Rattray, who was 101 years of age and a veteran of the Zulu Wars.

The Infirmary designed by Sir John Soane had been added in 1809 and is now the site of the National Army Museum. The idea of this museum was first conceived in the late 1950s by Field Marshal Sir Gerald Templar and was originally located at Sandhurst, home of the Royal Military Academy. The present location was chosen as a more central venue for the Museum and construction of the building was commenced in 1961 but took ten years to complete, with the present Museum opening to the public on November 11th 1971. Most of the fundraising for the construction of this building was undertaken personally by Sir Gerald Templar. This Museum, which is currently closed for an extensive refurbishment, is scheduled to re-open in 2016 and if it lives up to it's former incarnation, will continue to be well worth a visit.

We continued along Royal Hospital Road, walking towards the Thames Embankment, until we reached Cheyne Place, a terrace of houses and apartment blocks on the right hand side of the road. On the night of 16th/17th April 1941, a Parachute Mine detonated in the street, destroying or severely damaging numbers 25-43 and causing many casualties, including 3 AFS Firemen who were killed at the scene and whose names are commemorated on a plaque at Kings Road Fire Station, which we passed later in the walk. Like all London Fire Brigade and AFS Stations, Cheyne Place was given it's own unique alpha-numeric code and perhaps one of the AFS firefighters of the time had been a stonemason or sculptor in his civilian life, because the code letters '6W', the designated code for the Fire Station remains visible to this day, carved neatly into the stonework of one of the buildings concerned.

Station 6W of the AFS at 19/21 Cheyne Place (author's photo)

We continued along Royal Hospital Road and turned right into Christchurch Street before embarking on a walk through some of the most peaceful side roads to be found in Central London, eventually finding ourselves at the junction with Cheyne Row, where we paused outside The Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer, which was the scene of another serious wartime incident. 

In common with many other London churches during wartime, the crypt (the entrance to which was at 21 Upper Cheyne Row) was used as a Public Air Raid Shelter. On the night of  September 14th 1940, between 80 and 100 people were sheltering inside when a HE Bomb crashed through the West Window and the floor, exploding in the crypt. Sadly, 23 of those sheltering including the Shelter Warden, Bert Thorpe, were killed in the explosion and the ensuing fire which was one of the worst incidents in the borough of Chelsea. 

Josephine Oakman was a young Air Raid Warden who kept a diary, which is now in the possession of the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea's Archives. Her entry for this date makes heart rending reading:

"18:27 - Bomb on Holy Redeemer. Got sent off by Bert Thorpe on bike patrol in Glebe Place and had hardly got away when HE sailed through church window, through crypt floor to cellar where it exploded against some strutting among 80 odd people. I got knocked off the bike. A second knocked me down again and a third sent a brick onto my tin hat. I went to Holy Redeemer and set to work on stirrup pumps. The cries and groans were awful. God help them all. We took 12 dead and put them in the garden by the church as it was getting dark. I think my heart broke this night over the sights I have seen today."

Despite this direct hit, the church which was consecrated in 1895, was not badly damaged and continued in use as a church and a shelter, with permanent repairs being completed by 1962. 

After some reflection, we left this now peaceful backwater and proceeded along Cheyne Row until we reached the junction with Cheyne Walk where we turned right, following the River Thames upstream. After turning right into Cheyne Walk, we reached Chelsea Old Church, located appropriately on the corner of Old Church Street and set in its own small garden. 

Memorial to Yvonne Green (author's photo)

 

Memorial at Roper's Garden (author's photo)

Today, the Church Garden with its statue of Thomas More and Roper’s Garden opposite the Church form a peaceful oasis away from the incessant flow of traffic along Chelsea Embankment but as can be seen from the two plaques on the walls of Roper’s Gardens, it becomes clear that on the night of  April 16th/17th 1941, this area was anything but an oasis of peace. The plaque located overlooking Chelsea Embankment tells us that Roper’s Garden is built on land formerly occupied by buildings destroyed during the raid on that night, whilst the plaque located in Old Church Street is erected by the charity ‘Firemen Remembered’ and commemorates the life of Yvonne Green, a 30 year old Canadian Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) Fire Watcher killed on the same night along with four of her colleagues. 

Memorial inside the rebuilt Chelsea Old Church (author's photo)

We covered Yvonne's story in the April 2011 edition of this blog but suffice to say that Yvonne Green and four of her five Fire Watching colleagues were killed and Chelsea Old Church almost completely destroyed, when two Parachute Mines detonated in close proximity on this terrible night. Yvonne was another prolific writer - this time in the form of letters to her Mother, safely back home in Canada and what proved to be her last letter home, dated just two days before her death, makes poignant reading:

"The Blitz hasn't affected London now for some days now or nights. I should say now but I think it's a fair assumption to say that it is purely temporary and we'll be getting it again soon - maybe."

From this now tranquil scene, we proceeded north along Lawrence Street and eventually turned right into Kings Road. Proceeding along this busy thoroughfare, we passed the recently closed Chelsea Fire Station at the junction with Dovehouse Street. Another of the commemorative plaques erected by ‘Firemen Remembered’ adorns this building and we paused here to remember the sacrifices made by these men over the years, not only in wartime but also as recently as 1968. We had already passed the site of those killed at Cheyne Place, whilst the location of those killed at Chelsea Square is somewhat to the rear of the Fire Station we were standing by, with Brompton Road and St Stephens Hospital to the north of our position. The present day Chelsea & Westminster Hospital is on the site of the old St Stephens Hospital which was seriously damaged in December 1944 by a V-2 rocket. 

Chelsea Fire Station plaque (author's photo)

 

From the Fire Station, we continued a short distance along Kings Road until we reached the pleasant open space known as Dovehouse Green. On the wall of the old Town Hall building, we saw two memorials, one to the Civilian War Dead of the people of Chelsea and the other, a small brass plaque that commemorates two members of the Heavy Rescue Service, Anthony Smith GC and Albert Littlejohn BEM. 

The George Cross is the highest civilian award for bravery and therefore not given lightly, so the story of these two men is worth recounting. Anthony Smith was a chimney sweep by trade who had fought in the Royal Marines during The Great War and had lost three fingers of one hand on The Somme in 1917. He had tried to re-enlist on the outbreak of war in 1939 but his injury precluded this and so instead had joined the Heavy Rescue Service based at Chatham, Kent. On the night of 23rd February 1944, during the so-called 'Little Blitz', a lone raider dropped two bombs which were possibly aimed at Lots Road Power Station but which missed and instead fell on The Guinness Trust buildings on the corner of Edith Grove and Kings Road. Both blocks collapsed and Anthony Smith soon arrived with the Heavy Rescue Squad. Many people were trapped in the rubble and Smith heard the cries of one of them, a baker called Sam Mitchell who was trapped in the basement. Smith entered the basement through a gap in the rubble, which soon after he entered collapsed, trapping him also. 

Tony Smith persevered and soon found Mitchell in the rubble, freed him and dragged him to the rear of the building where he broke through a wall to safety. Without thinking of his own safety, Smith then joined his colleague Albert Littlejohn and re-entered the basement, which by this time was flooding with water from a broken main and rescued a woman who they helped to safety. 

Smith and his colleagues worked all night freeing victims and recovering bodies. In all, 76 people died that night but many others were rescued thanks to Anthony Smith and his colleagues from the Heavy Rescue Squad. He was awarded the George Cross in May 1944 and made a Freeman of the Borough of Chelsea in June of the same year. A fuller account of Tony Smith's story appeared in the February 2012 edition of this blog.

Dovehouse Green memorials (author's photo)

From this modest but inspiring memorial, we returned to Kings Road and turned left at the traffic lights into Sydney Street and entered the delightful gardens adjoining Parish Church of St Luke’s. This church was damaged on 16th October 1940 by an incendiary bomb in the belfry which was brought under control before too much damage was caused and also by a HE Bomb on St Luke’s School (now the Church Hall) which severely damaged the eastern end of the church buildings generally. This end of the church still shows considerable signs of shrapnel damage and also some repaired areas of masonry. The churchyard had also been the scene of an unexploded bomb on 15th October 1940 which was rendered safe by the Bomb Disposal Squad. The church, which was designed by James Savage and consecrated on 18th October 1824, is the largest and tallest parish church in London. It is also the home to several interesting war memorials from both World Wars including the 3rd Gurkha Rifles, 140th Field Ambulance Royal Army Medical Corps, various units of The Royal Engineers and the 51st London Heavy A.A. Regiment. In more recent times, the church has been a frequent location for film makers and was perhaps most notably a location for ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral.’

Coming towards the end of our walk, we headed towards Draycott Avenue, at which point we continued ahead for a few metres, entering Cadogan Street with the Guinness Trust Buildings to our right hand side. We took the time to peer into the pedestrian entrance into this estate. Underneath the covered walkway entrance, just off Cadogan Street, it was possible to see a delightful memorial to the men of Draycott Avenue who died during an earlier conflict, The Great War of 1914-18. It was hand written and simply titled ‘Our Roll of Honour’ and even after almost 100 years, our group still found it intensely moving to see this simple memorial to the men of an ordinary street in west London. 

"Our Roll of Honour" - Draycott Avenue (author's photo)

As always, there is much more to see on one of our walks and even a description of walk such as this, does not compare with actually "walking the ground", so come along one of these days - you will be surprised as to what can still be seen of our wartime history.

Published Sources: 

London Transport at War – Charles Graves, LPTB 1947 

The Story of London’s Underground – John R Day & John Reed, Capital Transport 2001 

Blitz – MJ Gaskin, Faber & Faber 2005 

Ordinary Heroes – David Walker & Roger Morgan, the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea 2005 

A Guide to St Luke’s Church Chelsea – Clare Johnston, privately published 1999 

Unpublished Sources: 

Metropolitan Borough of Chelsea ARP Incident Log 1940-45 

Extracts from Josephine Oakman's Diary

 

Danger UXB!

The Evening Standard's take on last week's unexploded bomb

The recent discovery of an unexploded Luftwaffe 250 kg bomb in Bermondsey suddenly brought the Blitz back to the forefront of the news, with headlines such as the one above in the London Evening Standard being fairly typical, as were the inaccuracies in the reporting, which saw the bomb varying in size from 1000 lbs, to 1000 kgs, with just about every size in between coming into the equation. Both Neil and I were surprised to receive late night phone calls from a reporter at the Standard and whilst we couldn't provide details of the actual bomb type, Neil was able to offer his opinions on when the bomb was likely to have been dropped and to give the newspaper a little insight into the background of the raid in question, which in his informed view, was probably on the night of 10th/11th May 1941 - the last raid of the Night Blitz on London and also the heaviest and one in which Bermondsey in particular suffered.

Whilst the press rightly focused on the disturbance and potential dangers caused by the discovery of this weapon, they also correctly paid attention to the work of the Army's Bomb Disposal Service, part of the Royal Engineers, who are the descendents of the Bomb Disposal Squads established during the Second World War to cope with the ever increasing amounts of unexploded German ordnance. This varied from the small 'Butterfly', anti-personnel bombs and 1 kg incendiaries, right up to the largest 1,000 kgs bombs, nicknamed the 'Hermann' because of it's rotund appearance similar to that of Hermann Goring, head of the Luftwaffe during the War. The only bombs not handled by the Army squads were the Parachute Mines, which being adapted naval mines, were dealt with by the Royal Navy's specialist teams.

Blitzwalkers' opinion is...

The work of the Bomb Disposal teams didn't end with the coming of peace in 1945; unexploded German ordnance is still unearthed with alarming regularity. A 'Hermann' was dredged from the River Lea in London's East End in 2008 and after the fuze was removed and much of the explosive steamed out, the remains of the bomb were detonated in situ. The Bermondsey bomb is just the most recent example of unexploded ordnance to be found in London and the truth is that nobody really knows exactly how many bombs are still waiting to be discovered. 

It isn't just in London that these bombs are unearthed - in 2009 a smaller but still potentially lethal bomb, was discovered during building work in Plymouth and eventually made safe. Other bombs have been found in Liverpool in 2006, in Portsmouth in 2013 and in Bristol in 2012, all cities that were bombed heavily during the Blitz of 1940-41. Add to this, the occasional naval mine which has to be dealt with by the Royal Navy's clearance divers, it is clear that the problem of unexploded Second World War German ordnance is not something that will go away any time soon.

This is not just a peculiarly British problem either; in Germany unexploded bombs dropped by the RAF and the USAAF are still regularly being discovered in German cities and other locations across the country, testament to the enormous punishment meted out to German cities, mainly as part of the RAF's night area bombing campaign.

Unexploded RAF bomb, now safely on display in Hamburg (Author's photo)

In September 2014, a 4,000 lb British 'Cookie' blast bomb was discovered in the town of Seeize, close to Hannover and although the bomb was safely defused, major disruption was caused and in December 2011, another 'Cookie' was discovered in the River Rhine at Koblenz alongside an unexploded American 250 lb bomb that had fallen in a separate raid. The bombs were only discovered due to unusually low river levels caused by lack of rainfall and could easily have lain there undisturbed for another seventy years. 

Unexploded Bomb Warning - 1940 style (author's collection)

All of the bombs mentioned thus far were safely disposed of but these stories do not always have such a happy ending. In January 2014, a construction worker in Euskirchen accidentally disturbed an unexploded 'Cookie' with his mechanical digger and was killed in the resulting explosion and in 2010 in Goettingen, three men were killed and another seriously injured when they attempted to move an unexploded bomb. A further incident in 2006 saw another construction worker engaged on Autobahn repairs killed when he inadvertently drove his digger over an RAF bomb which exploded, throwing the digger some sixty feet into the air.

Given that the Allies dropped some 2.7 million tonnes of high explosive plus in the region of 8 million incendiaries on Germany, and that by the law of averages, there will have been many 'duds' amongst these, it is clear that there will be a major problem in Germany dealing with these unexploded devices for many years to come. As the years pass, these bombs will continue to present a threat and will probably become ever more dangerous to the unsuspecting person that stumbles across them.

Printed Sources:

London Evening Standard (cuttings shown)