The RAF`s Darkest hour

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The RAF`s Darkest hour
IP: 51.7.172.170
Posted on April 20, 2025 at 17:27:31 by vince

RAF's darkest night: 95 planes lost, 545 men killed on ill-fated World War 2 raid
Former RAF Navigator and Gulf War PoW John Nichol tells the tale of heroes such as Cyril Barton in new book 'The Red Line'
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945, A Handley Page Halifax of No 6 Group flies over the smoke-obscured target during a daylight raid on the oil refinery at Wanne-Eickel in the Ruhr
On target: Halifax bomber over Germany (Image: Getty)
opinionByJohn Nichol
08:00, 24 Mar 2014
|

John Nichol
It was a clear, cloudless night and bright moonlight illuminated the landscape as the stream of aircraft forged a track deep into Germany. But what began as a normal bombing operation would soon turn into the bloodiest night in the RAF�s history.

Of 795 aircraft that took off from British bases to target Nuremberg on March 30, 1944, 95 would not return.

More RAF men died in blazing aircraft that night � 545 � than the total killed during the entire 15 weeks of the Battle of Britain.

The disaster, 70 years ago this week, warranted only a mention in Churchill�s memoirs, and no reference at all in Sir Arthur �Bomber� Harris� account of the war.

But it was a brutal illustration of the dangers faced by the young men of Bomber Command. Of its 125,000 men, all volunteers, 55,753 would not survive the war.

My association with the men of Bomber Command began back in 1991. As a young Tornado navigator I had been shot down over Iraq during the first Gulf War, captured, tortured and paraded on TV.

My short but deeply unpleasant �experience brought me into contact with my forebears, who had flown the early bombers into the heart of Hitler�s Germany.

I joined their gatherings � most were raucous and beer-driven events. But others were sombre and poignant with long-buried stories of lost friends.

Despite my 16 years� RAF service, I had never heard the events of March 30, 1944, mentioned. When I discovered the terrible losses, I was driven to record their stories so their sacrifice would never be forgotten.

Cyril Barton VC
Idealistic pilot: Cyril Barton
Cyril Barton, a pilot on 578 Squadron flying Halifax bombers, was typical of so many of those heroic young men. In many ways, he was perhaps nondescript, a teetotaller and committed Christian who worked hard.

He was a family man who loved his little sisters, Cynthia and Joyce.

Cynthia, then 13, remembers him as like a �little father to us�. For Joyce, then aged nine, a most treasured memory is of her big brother teaching her to paint a �magnificent watercolour sunset.

Cyril was also a man of huge courage and staggering fortitude. Like so many young boys, he had always wanted to fly.

He used what little pocket money he amassed to buy model aeroplanes.

But the onset of the Second World War offered Cyril the opportunity to fulfil his dream of taking to the skies. In 1941, he wrote a �beautifully formal letter to his dad seeking permission to volunteer for the RAF.

Perhaps understandably, bearing in mind his own service in the trenches of the Great War, his father was� reluctant to agree.

But he finally wavered and wrote: ��Naturally, your mother and I are not too keen on you �joining up�, more especially as I know by experience what such a step entails, but� I rather grudgingly give my consent� may God bless you and help you in the days that lie ahead� goodbye and �happy �landings�. Dad.�

Three years later, on the morning of March 30, Cyril, then 22, awoke at RAF Burn in North Yorkshire.

Ops over Germany were scheduled for later, but first he had an important task to complete � it was his youngest sister Joyce�s birthday.

He dug out a card with an �illustration of �Hush-a-bye-baby� on the front. He scribbled: �Hope the nursery rhyme isn�t too babyish for you!�, addressed the �envelope and tucked it in his locker. He would post it home to New Malden, South West London, the following day.

In crewrooms across England, thousands of young men later gathered for the daily briefing.

Navigation officers drew back curtains covering maps to reveal a red line of string stretching from home bases, across the North Sea, into deepest Germany.

�Gentlemen, tonight, your target is Nuremberg.�

War and Conflict, World War Two, Air War, pic: 1945, The area around the supply and troop base at Bocholt, Germany is covered in smoke after a heavy raid by Lancaster and Halifax aircraft
Inferno: Bombing raid on Germany ( Image: Getty)
Cyril�s Halifax left Burn at 10.12pm. His crew were all idealistic youngsters like him and they idolised their �skipper�. Rear gunner Freddie Brice said: �I had little fear flying with him � never any panic, and his calmness seemed to reach us all.�

But as they embarked on their 19th �operation, Freddie had deep concerns about the bright, moonlit night, the lack of forecast cloud cover and the long, straight slog across the enemy�s heartland.

Inside the freezing bombers, the smell of hot oil permeated everything and the roar and vibration of the giant engines made conversation impossible.

The interior was so cramped it was d�ifficult to stand up straight, but discomfort was the least of their worries. Luck was on the German side that night and the Luftwaffe fighters were already making good use of the �shimmering moonlight. Across the German border, the slaughter began.

From his Lancaster in the middle of the stream, pilot Dick Starkey watched in horror as the drama unfolded. Multi-coloured tracer from the fighters� guns stitched wild patterns across the night sky and in seconds bombers were falling earthwards in flames.

As blinding flashes lit the sky and the bright night turned blood red, the intercom calls echoed between horrified crewmen. They vividly remembered the unfolding tragedy as they recounted their stories for me 70 years later. �Bomber going down in flames to port,� said one frenzied message.

Others continued: �Christ! Another one on the starboard side.�

�One going down in front, Skipper.�

�Oh God! Look at the burning trail on the ground!�

Within minutes Starkey had counted 30 bombers plummeting from the sky.

�Fire would rip through the aircraft until it reached the bomb bay,� he remembers. �Then it would blow up and shower debris like flaming confetti. The ground was �actually ablaze with wreckage.�

As the bedraggled stream arrived at the turning point north of Nuremberg, 60 giant bombers, each with six or seven crew, had already been lost. Worse was to come.

Barton VC Crew
Skipper: Cyril, centre, with crew who idolised him

Vince

Replies:

Re(1): The RAF`s Darkest hour - By Geoff Pycroft April 20, 2025 at 18:28:42

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