Both were Yorkshire based - No.35 Squadron at Linton-on-Ouse and No.76 Squadron at Middleton St. At that time the Halifax bomber had only been in service four months and there were only two squadrons in existence. ![]() As the then new Halifax bombers were considered able to defend themselves without fighter support, the task was given to them. How could she be stopped?Ī daylight-bombing raid was decided upon, but with the target more than 600 miles away, fighter cover was out of the question. The Scharnhorst now posed a major threat. The same day the RAF brought back the photograph of the giant ship berthed at a jetty jutting out from the port. On the morning of July 23rd, the Scharnhorst slipped out of Brest and sailed to La Rochelle, a port on the Atlantic coast to the south of Brest. As this could only mean the imminent sailing of the surface raider, he reported the fact to London via his Resistance network. The Scharnhorst, known throughout the German Navy as a lucky ship, lived up to its reputation by always escaping damage.Įarly in July Lt Phillipon discovered that a large order for provisions had been placed for delivery to the Scharnhorst with July 20th as the dead line. The Gneisenau was badly damaged on three occasions. From this the Admiralty were able to deduce that the ship would be out of service for some time.ĭuring the next few weeks Brest was attacked many times by RAF bombers. Soon after the arrival of the great ships, Lt Phillipon reported to London that a pile of burnt out boiler tubes from the Scharnhorst were on the quayside. During those 60 days they had sunk 22 merchant ships and had been a constant problem for the Royal Navy. They had been at sea for 60 days - a record for German capital ships. On March 22nd, 1941 the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau sailed into the port of Brest. The dangerous task of conveying the information to the wireless operator was undertaken by Paul Mauger, code-named 'Mimi'. ![]() This brave man lived some 250 miles away at Saumur. His information was transmitted by a wireless operator named Bernard Anquetil, an ex Naval Quartermaster. The Resistance group in Brest arranged for him to become an agent for British Naval Intelligence and he was given the code name 'Hilarion'. However, working in occupied dockyards he had even less reason to love the Germans and towards the end of 1940 he joined the Resistance. This young officer had little love for the British after the attack by the Royal Navy on the French Fleet at Oran, when nearly 1,300 Frenchmen were killed. One of the men Captain Le Normand had chosen to serve with him was a Lt Jean Phillipon. The French officer in charge, Captain Le Normand, in order to prevent the transportation of his skilled French work force to Germany as forced labour, became a reluctant collaborator. ![]() She had to be stopped.Īfter the fall of France in 1940, the Germans occupied the French Naval Dockyards at Brest. The Scharnhorst could create havoc in that convoy. On the other side of the Atlantic a convoy with 30,000 Canadian troops was preparing to sail. An RAF reconnaissance Spitfire had brought back a photographs showing the German battleship Scharnhorst moored at La Rochelle, a port on the Atlantic coast of France. The alarm bells were ringing in the Admiralty. ![]() Sgt Ernie 'Connie' Constable - Wireless Operator/Air GunnerĮrnie Constable was the Wireless Operator/Air Gunner onboard Halifax L9512 TL-U on July 24th 1941, here he recalls his role in the daring daylight raid to. Sgt Albert 'Bert' Henery - Wireless Operator/Air Gunner
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