Beauchamp - Missions with 207 Sqn
Operational missions and other flights which illustrate the evolution of a Bomber Command Squadron during an important period.
207 Sqn Avro Manchester (IWM)
1941
11 Oct. Target Essen. Manchester L7483. 1 x 4000lb. “Not Successful”. Original target Stuttgart then Karlruhe then finally the Krupps works at Essen. Target not seen due to thick cloud & haze; from 15500’, Beauchamp bombed incendiaries on fire in a built up area “definitely a town in the Ruhr”.
12 Oct. Target Huls. Manchester L7487. 1 x 4000lb. “Not Successful”. The main raid this night was Nuremburg but 79 Hampdens and 11 Manchesters attacked the chemical factory at Huls. Beauchamp was unable to locate the primary target due to cloud, so attacked an aerodrome 10 miles South of Nijmegen. The 373 aircraft dispatched to various targets made this Bomber Command’s largest effort of the War so far.
20-21 Oct. 2nd pilot to Wg Cdr Fothergill to Horsham St Faith + 10 crew. ‘Sea Search’ to Waddington.
26 Oct. Manchester L7422 crash 2 nm SSE of Market Rasen, no casualties. Flying ATC cadets (not in Beauchamp logbook?). Feathering test; on unfeathering starboard engine, Beauchamp may have not switched on the ignition, resulting in loss of height and ‘belly landing'.
9 Nov. Target Hamburg (shipyards). Manchester L7300?. 1740-2250. 4 x 1000lb. “Not Successful”. Main target attacked with 3 x 1000lb bomb from 14500’ at 2012 and estimated to have fallen in the docks area. One bomb jettisoned due to inability to climb. Slight damage to ac from flak.
From mid-November, Bomber Command carried out only limited operations due to the heavy losses and poor results of the previous months.
8 Dec. Target Aachen. Manchester R5796 (ORB – L7496). 0212-0734. “Not Successful”. Aiming point was the local Nazi party HQ building, but thick haze prevented Beauchamp’s crew from locating the target, so they brought the bombs back to base.
14-16 Dec Formation flying.
27 Dec 41 Target marshalling yards at Dusseldorf. Manchester L7483 ‘O’. 1710-1807. Ac crash landed at Martlesham Heath owing to engine failure on outward trip. 1 x 4000 lb HC and 2 x 500lb GP dropped safe from 4000’ one mile east of Orfordness at 1800.
207 Sqn Avro Manchester (IWM)
1942
2 Jan. Target St Nazaire. Manchester L7484 ‘P’. 1720-0002. Unsuccessful due 10/10 cloud; Beauchamp then attempted to bomb Cherbourg and Le Havre, both of which were also obscured by cloud. Bombs jettisoned in the sea. Landed at Shrewton. Of the 15 Whitleys and 12 Manchesters sent to St Nazaire, only 8 bombed.
5 Jan. Target Brest. Manchester L7484 ‘P’. 0424-0930. 3 x 2000lb Armour Piercing. Successful. 8/10 cloud hid enemy coast and target area but docks eventually seen and bombs released at 12000’. One of 154 aircraft to attack Brest, 87 of which were to attack the Scharnhorst & Gneisenau, the remainder the docks generally.
10 Jan. Target Wilhelmshaven. Manchester L7309 ‘O’. 1644-2130. 6 x 1000lb GP + 6 bundles of nickels. Successful.
22 Jan. Target Munster. Manchester L7515 ‘S’. 1789-2219. 1 x 4000lb, 4 x 500lb. Successful – photo. Target attacked in good visibility from 15000’. Target identified by railway lines and the Dortmund-Ems canal.
25 Jan. Target Brest. Manchester R5782. 1809-2255. 6 x 1000lb. Successful. Primary target Battle cruisers; Beauchamp, along with all seven 207 Sqn Manchesters, bombed the secondary target of the docks area, as 8/10 cloud prevented sighting the primary target. 61 aircraft dispatched in total without loss; bombing results not observed.
4 Feb. Daylight ‘Gardening’ off Frisian Islands. Manchester L7480. Recalled at 30E owing to weather.
6 Feb. Daylight ‘Gardening’ off Frisian Islands.
11 Feb. Target Mannheim. Manchester L7491 ‘O’. 1825-0046. 6x1000lb GP. Successful. Landed Horsham St Faith (RTB on the 12th). One of 49 ac dispatched by Bomber Command with no loss. Beauchamp reported sighting a ‘dummy’ North of Mannheim, the dummy consisting of rows of lights representing a town as large as Mannheim and in the same pattern.
12 Feb. Gardening Frisian Islands ‘NECTARINE’. Manchester L7391. 2250-0448. Unsuccessful due to hydraulic failure and unserviceable bomb door manual release. 4 mines returned to base. Earlier in the Day, three 207 Sqn Manchesters has unsuccessfully attempted to locate and bomb the Scharnhorst & Gneisenau during the ‘Channel Dash’. However, both ships were slowed down by hitting mines in the Frisian Islands, laid by the RAF during the previous days.
14 Feb. Bomber Command receives its 'Area Bombing' directive from the Air Ministry.
207 Sqn Avro Manchester L7486 (IWM)
22 Feb. Target Sola Aerodrome. Manchester L7486 ‘B’. 0404-0557. Target was not reached owing to bad weather and failure of ASI; from take-off to landing, aircraft was in continuous snow at 1000’. 6x1000lb jettisoned in sea.
26 Feb. Beauchamp’s first Lancaster flight (L7350); 45 mins local (P1) + Flt Lt Ward-Hunt, OC 207 Sqn Conversion flight, a post which Beauchamp would assume on 11 August.
27/28 Feb. Target Kiel (not shown in Beauchamp’s logbook). Manchester L7491 ‘O’. 1751-0043. Target not identified due to cloud cover so bombs dropped on ETA; 47 of the 68 ac dispatched bombed by this method but no bomb was recorded as dropping on Kiel.
10 Mar. Target Essen. Manchester L7488. 2023-2045. Mission aborted due to excessive sparks from the port engines; bombs brought back to base.
13 Mar. Lancaster to Woodford & return + 4 crews. Collection of Lancasters? 207 Sqn ORB states that the Sqn is converting to Lancasters, with nine crews sent on leave and intensive day & night training for the remainder. 5 Lancasters reported as being on station on 14 March.
15 Mar. dH82 R5133 local + Flt Lt Cobb.
17 Mar. Lancaster R5499 to Woodford & return (22 crew). 207 Sqn ORB: ‘Ten Lancasters now on Station’.
25 Apr. Target Rostock (Heinkel Works). Lancaster R5507 ‘W’. 2257-0525. 1x4000lb + incendiaries + leaflets dropped on visual aiming. Slight damage to middle turret by flak.
6 May. Target Stuttgart. Lancaster R5499 (ORB says R5505 ‘X’). 2205-0405. Ground haze hid the target but fires & flashes in the area aided location of town. 1260 x 4lb incendiaries released at 0108 from 5000’; ‘flares from attacking force appeared to be dropped over a wide area’. 97 aircraft dispatched of which 10 were Lancasters; Stuttgart’s records show that no bomb fell in the city for the loss of 5 Wellingtons and one Halifax.
13 May – formation flying; 19-21 May Low level formation cross country.
22 May. Gardening in Baltic, ‘Willow’. Lancaster R5499 ‘O’ + Wg Cdr Fothergill. 2152-0417. Not successful. Port outer engine failure; weapons jettisoned safe in the Little Belt, west of Aero Island. Course set for return on three engines. On crossing coast of Denmark at N Esjberg, aircraft was illuminated by searchlights and flying low struck the sea. Both starboard props were bent and starboard inner was feathered owing to vibration. Height of 100’ was maintained on the remaining 2 engines at 120 mph. Preparations were made for ditching and TR1335 and IFF was destroyed. Aircraft continued to fly and height was gained to 1000’ at 120 IAS. All ammunition and oxygen bottles were jettisoned and a fire started from a short circuit in anti-fighter flare chute near main flare chute.
30/31 May. Target Cologne, the first ‘Thousand Bomber’ Raid. Lancaster L7543 ‘Z’. 1x4000lb, 8 SBCs of 4 lb incendiaries. Located from 13500’ in good visibility. The fires raging in the town were seen from the Dutch coast. Palls of greyish smoke up to 10000’. Owing to a fault, bombs fell on NW portion of city and one container of incendiaries hung up.
1 Jun. Target Essen, the second “Thousand Bomber’ Raid. Lancaster L7543 ‘Z’. 948 aircraft dispatched, of which 31 were lost; Essen’s records report scattered bombing and little damage. Beauchamp records the mission in his logbook as ‘Not successful’, he dropped his incendiaries in an area already lit up by burning incendiaries.
7 Jun. Lancaster formation / fighter affiliation. Burst main tyre on landing at Waddington; flown back to Bottesford by Plt Off Speirs later the same day.
8 Jun. Lancaster R5503. NFT; 2nd pilot to Flt Lt Leland. Leading edge blown off ac; crash landed.
9 Jun. Lancaster R5635. To Syerston / Low level cross country. 2nd pilot to Wg Cdr Jeffs.
11 Jun. Low level cross country & fighter affiliation.
14 Jun. Formation and A/G gunnery at Wainfleet.
16 Jun. Target Bremen. Lancaster R5628 ‘Q’. 2338-0356. 1 x 4000lb + incendiaries. ‘1325 used successfully’ – might mean 1335 (Gee)? ORB says 5 x 2000lb bombs & incendiaries released on TR fix at 0157. 8 of the 106 aircraft tasked to Essen were lost, again for little damage.
8 Jun. Magister to Scampton overnight with A/S/O Beauchamp, returning to Bottesford on the 29th.
207 Sqn Lancasters, 20 June 1942 (RAF Museum)
29 Jun. Target Bremen. Lancaster R5638 ‘Q’. 1 x 4000lb + incendiaries. TR1325 successful. 9/10 cloud in layers to 16000’ with good visibility in between. TR run made and load dropped from 15500’; bomb seen to burst. 253 aircraft dispatched, with eleven lost, none of which were from the 64-strong Lancaster force, including 16 from 207 Sqn. Extensive damage caused, mostly by fire, to the Focke-Wulf factory and the AG Weser U-Boat construction yard.
2 Jul. Target Bremen. Lancaster R5628 ‘Q’. 2355-0400. 1 x 4000lb + incendiaries. Successful; Beauchamp bombed from a TR(Gee) run with visual confirmation of the target area, where many bombs were bursting, but noticed an ‘enormous fire’ about 10 nm SW of the town. 325 ac attacked that nicht, but is seems that much of the attack fell South of the town.
5, 6, 9 Jul. Formation St Kilda 23000’ inc bombing.
11 Jul. Target Danzig (shipbuilding yards). Lancaster R5628 ‘Q’. Daylight Ops 1654-0238. The most distant target Bomber Command had yet attempted and with experimental tactics. The plan was to fly in formation at low level over the North Sea then split and fly independently in cloud and bomb from normal bombing heights. Due to poor weather the formations split, with Beauchamp continuing alone to drop 5 x 1000lb bombs on the docks from 8000’. 44 Lancasters were dispatched, of which 26 reached the target, 2 being shot down by flak at the target, including one 207 Sqn aircraft. Beauchamp was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for his actions during this raid.
