Operation Bellicose was an attack by Avro Lancaster bombers of the Royal Air Force on a German radar factory housed in the former Zeppelin Works at Friedrichshafen and the Italian naval base at La Spezia. It was the first shuttle bombing raid in the Second World War and the second use of a Master Bomber.[1] In early June 1943, a Central Interpretation Unit photo interpreter (Claude Wavell) identified a stack of ribbed baskets (Würzburg radar reflectors) at the Zeppelin Works. After Winston Churchill viewed the photos at RAF Medmenham on 14 June, No. 5 Group RAF received the surprise orders on 16 June to attack Friedrichshafen during the next full moon.[2]
On approach to the target, Wing Commander Gomm (No. 467 Squadron RAAF) assumed control of the operation when the aircraft of Group Captain Slee, the master bomber, developed trouble.[1] The Main Force was ordered to bomb from 15,000 feet (4,600 m) rather than the planned 10,000 feet (3,000 m) due to heavy flak. In the first phase, the Pathfinder Force (PFF) and Wing Commander Gomm dropped Target Indicator bombs for the Main Force to aim at. In the second phase, as dust and smoke obscured the TIs, Gomm ordered the Main Force to use 'time-and-distance' bombing runs from a location on the Lake Constance shore along a measured distance to the target.[3][1]
The operation was successful. As well as damaging the radar factory, the bombers destroyed the unsuspected V-2 rocket production line also housed in the Zeppelin Works, so that Bellicose accidentally became the first Allied air strike against the German V-weapons programme. No Lancasters were lost. From Friedrichshafen the aircraft continued to the USAAF base at Maison Blanche (now Houari Boumediene Airport), Algeria.[4] On 23–24 June, eight of the original force of sixty Lancasters remained in Algeria for repairs and the remaining 52 bombed the Italian naval base at La Spezia, damaging an "oil depot" and an "armaments store" and continued to Britain, again without loss.[1]
^ abcd"Campaign Diary". Royal Air Force Bomber Command 60th Anniversary. UK Crown. Archived from the original on 17 August 2008. Retrieved 30 April 2008.
^Irving, David (1964). The Mare's Nest. London: William Kimber and Co. pp. 65, 81.
^Middlebrook, Martin (1982). The Peenemünde Raid: The Night of 17/18 August 1943. New York: Bobbs-Merrill. p. 50.
^Etherington, Andrew. "June 24th, 1943". The Second World War – A Day by Day Account. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 4 March 2008.
and 23 Related for: Operation Bellicose information
OperationBellicose was an attack by Avro Lancaster bombers of the Royal Air Force on a German radar factory housed in the former Zeppelin Works at Friedrichshafen...
operations of the Iraq War, undertaken by Multi-National Force – Iraq. The list covers operations from 2003 until December 2011. For later operations...
Operation Chastise, commonly known as the Dambusters Raid, was an attack on German dams carried out on the night of 16/17 May 1943 by 617 Squadron RAF...
Operation Frantic was a series of seven shuttle bombing operations during World War II conducted by American aircraft based in Great Britain and southern...
[citation needed] During the previous month, Allied bombing during OperationBellicose had hit the Zeppelin V-2 facility, leading to production being subsequently...
26 June: A 100 BG B-17 surrendered and then escaped. 20/21 June: OperationBellicose targets Würzburg radar production and is the first bombing of a V-2...
aerial bombardment of the city in the early days of the battle. OperationBellicose, June 1943: On the night of 20/21 June the RAF bombers departed from...
three more days. 1943 – World War II: The Royal Air Force launches OperationBellicose, the first shuttle bombing raid of the war. Avro Lancaster bombers...
August, September English Article on NordhausenWiki, German August 1944 461st Bombardment Group (H) August 1944 Bombing missions OperationBellicose map...
airfields in Blida and Maison Blanche. This was a key element of OperationBellicose, the bombing of a German radar factory in the former Zeppelin Works...
southern England. Following repeated heavy bombing by Allied forces during Operation Crossbow, the Germans were unable to complete the construction works and...
following night, Leonard Slee, by now a group captain, would lead OperationBellicose, an attack by 5 and 8 Groups on a German radar factory at Friedrichshafen...
John Birch Society. From the start, the Reagan administration adopted a bellicose stance toward the Soviet Union, one that favored seriously constraining...
planning between Allies and neutral Éire (Ireland) to deal with Fall Grün. Bellicose (1943) — British bombing mission against Friedrichshafen and La Spezia...
facilities that supplied Nazi Germany or those Germany tried to capture in Operation Edelweiss. Contents 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 R Notes References Notes...
The events preceding World War II in Europe are closely tied to the bellicosity of Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, Francoist Spain, and Imperial Japan, as...
undertaken with military vessels could be viewed as provocative or even bellicose. Other scholars have pointed out that the UNCLOS does not specifically...
Israeli shipping, combined with the increased fedayeen attacks and the bellicosity of recent Arab statements, prompted Israel, with the backing of Britain...
the Nazi rise to power in 1933, one of Adolf Hitler's most overt and bellicose moves was to establish the Wehrmacht, a modern offensively-capable armed...
erroneous report could have provoked the Soviet leadership into becoming bellicose. Kalugin said: "The danger was in the Soviet leadership thinking, 'The...
enlightened Italian patriot and democrat liberal, Crispi went on to become a bellicose authoritarian prime minister, ally and admirer of Bismarck. His career...
Global Information
United Kingdom
