March & April 1943

Beaufighter Mk XIC

On 9 March, the first of the new Beaufighter Mk XICs arrived.

On 23 March, led by S/L de la Haye, six of these new aircraft were on an interception patrol over the Bay of Biscay. They sighted seven Ju.88s two miles dead ahead at 200 feet and immediately gave chase. Four of the enemy aircraft climbed into the clouds and were chased by Beaufighters from the patrol. F/O Schoales attempted a long 1000-yard shot at one of the fleeing aircraft, but was unable to see any strikes. The other three Junkers remained at low level and two Beaus attempted to engage the enemy. R/404, flown by F/S VF McCallan attacked one JU.88 from astern by firing four cannon bursts. Hits were seen on the enemy's port wing and engine, which emitted heavy black smoke, and pieces, including a foot square chunk, fell from the wing. The JU.88 turned violently to port, and McCallan, in trying to turn within the enemy's maneuver, stalled before firing two more bursts of cannon at close range. Another attack by F/S HR Browne in "T" followed with two one-second bursts from 500 and 300 yards, with no strikes observed. The enemy managed to evade the Beaufighters and escaped into the cloud. Even though the combats only claimed damaged, two Ju.88s were destroyed; Schoales was credited with one, while McCallan and Browne shared the other .

F/S HR Browne, who shared in the shooting down of a Ju.88 (PL 19441)

As evidenced by this action, the Luftwaffe had a healthy respect for the ability of the Beaufighters. Ju.88s would not take the chance against these agile coastal fighters unless they had a strong numeric advantage, and if more than one Beaufighter was encountered, the Ju.88s would clear off.

During the month, the squadron also took time out to help P/O J Campbell, an original member of the squadron, celebrate his marriage to S/O Edna M Knight in Worthing, Sussex. As always, a marriage offered an opportunity to celebrate and to forget (for the time being) the rigours of war. On 26 March, F/O RC Field (pilot) and Sgt CF Taylor (WAG) were killed in a flying accident. The stricken aircraft "crashed from about a hundred feet in Cornwall and the machine exploded killing both him and his Observer when the machine hit the ground."

P/O JDW 'Pat' Campbell, an original member of 404 Squadron (PL 10876)

On 27 March, it was again made apparent how dangerous an environment the aircrew had to fly in during each sortie,
"F/O Campbell had a very close call today as he was flying too close to the sea and he hit a wave with one of his propellors and broke about a foot off of two blades. He managed, however, to land at a drome in Cornwall." Surely, some wave clipping did not end with the same positive results - how many crews that 'failed to return' were claimed in a moment such as this?







April 1943

The zone of operations became focused on Norwegian Coastal waters, thus it was not a surprise that the squadron soon found itself on the way back to Scotland on 2 April, this time to Tain, north of Inverness, again under the control of 18 Group.
"This station is about one of the worst yet. The hangars are about a mile from the Mess hall and some of the dispersals about a mile further on again from the hangars. The billets are about a half-mile the other side of the mess hall so there is plenty of walking to be done. Sanitary conditions very poor around billets and no place to wash or have a bath close than the mess hall. All in all, a grim proposition. " The squadron was only subjected to the inhospitable station for less than three weeks, likely to the great relief of all.

After the brief stay at Tain, the unit moved back into its old quarters at Wick on 20 April and was to remain for a little over a year. 404 joined the Wick Strike Wing and was to fly its future missions with 144 (RAF) Squadron torpedo-carrying Beaufighters (Torbeaus), and the torpedo-carrying Hampdens of 489 (RNZAF) Squadron. 404 flew anti-flak support during strikes using machine-gun and cannon, and during the Squadron's twelve-month stay in Wick it would be equipped with rocket projectiles. Actually 404 aircrew would be responsible for developing tactics to use the new weapon.

During the first two weeks there, several incidents took place that that proved that Beaufighters could be very dangerous on the ground - especially to unwary technicians. Cpl Ferrier and LAC Bowden both found out that it is indeed possible to fall off an aircraft that is not moving. The injuries they suffered were minor and served to remind the rest of the ground crew and aircrew of the need to be vigilant around dispersal. On 19 April, 404 Squadron had its first taste of action since returning to Scotland, in cooperation with 144 Squadron. F/S KS Miller, pilot of one of three Buffalo aircraft on a Norwegian patrol, sighted one German merchant vessel and one escort vessel. He immediately turned to attack, commencing the firing run from 600 yards out and closing to within 75 yards of the vessels. The first burst fell well short but the three following bursts produced results. Several cannon strikes were observed on the superstructure just aft of the bridge of the merchant vessel. The aircraft then broke away to the stern, keeping the escort ship between the aircraft and the merchant vessel. Flak and shell bursts were observed by the crewmembers of the Beaufighter as they flew away but there were no casualties.

This was the first of many engagements involving 404 Beaufighters against enemy convoys with their escorting flak ships and escorting fighter aircraft. On these strikes, the squadron flew escort to torpedo-carrying Beaufighters of an RAF squadron and Hampdens of a RNZAF unit, the role of 404 being to engage and neutralize the defending flak ships and fighters while the torpedo bombers closed in on the high value merchant vessels.

Success! Teamwork with 144 Sqn

The slow evolution of tactics and how to get various squadrons to work together finally showed results later in the month. As stated previously, 404 was tasked at this stage of the war with acting as anti-flak escort. This very high-risk mission required the Buffalo crews to draw the fire of the highly gunned escort vessels, whose sole reason for being was to intercept and shoot down the vulnerable torpedo-carrying aircraft.

On 27 April, a sighting report off of Lister Fjord prompted the launch of six 404 Squadron Beaufighters and four 144 Squadron Torbeaus. The distance to the strike area necessitated a refueling stop at Sumburgh in the Shetland Islands. After flying to the patrol area at only 50 feet above the sea, a convoy of three vessels was found. The Trondhjemsfjord, a 6,753-ton Norwegian steamship and the 679-ton Amrum, a German Medium Tanker as well as an escort vessel, the UJ-1707 (Nordmeer), a 465-ton auxiliary trawler/ sub chaser were sighted and immediately attacked. The 404 Squadron Beaufighters took on the escort with machine gun and cannon fire, flying low and raking the vessels in passing while the aircraft of 144 Squadron released their torps and scored four hits on the merchant vessel. As a result of the attack, the Trondhjemsfjord, who was in ballast while enroute from Bergen to Kristiansand, sank off of Ryvingen Lighthouse, a victim of two torpedoes and was the squadron's first credited sinking (along with 144). The Amrum and UJ-1707 were both damaged by shelling.

This action that lasted five minutes, but some of the squadron's Beaus were badly damaged by German fire. 'B', crewed by F/S KS Miller and Sgt J Young was hit by flak.
"Miller was wounded in the left arm; a 20mm shell had passed between the pilot and observer; a fire extinguisher knocked from its bracket had exploded in the cockpit; the port engine had been damaged, port inner cannon hit, and three cannon doors blown off. 'G' (Sgt RL Carter, Sgt JW Adamson) had been hit by flak in the fuselage and elevators".
The port engine of the aircraft flown by F/O RA Schoales with navigator P/O AD Powell, 'Q', had a cannon shell pass through it. At the same time, F/O Schoales was wounded in the arm by shrapnel but he still managed to bring the aircraft safely back to base despite his wound and the damage to the aircraft. For this feat, along with others, Schoales was eventually awarded the DFC. Though it seems that the squadron took serious damage for their efforts, it is testament to the Buffalo crews' effectiveness in protecting 144 that none of the torpedo aircraft were fired on. From the ORB, "Crews of 144 Squadron consider success largely due to Beaufighter escort of 404 Squadron drawing fire of escort vessels. None of the merchant vessels or escort vessels fired at 144 Sqn aircraft."