The V1 Menace

During the early to middle summer of 1944, after the invasion of Europe on the 6th June 1944 by the Allies at Normandy, the ever increasing threat of the V1 Rockets targeted on London and the Home Counties was becoming a real concern for the Government, The Allied High Command, and the defence forces.

The Allied High Command decided to make an all out offensive on the known and suspected V1 sites and on the storage depots and manufacturing plants. RAF Bomber Command and the USAAF 8th Bomber Group were to be involved in the concentrated bombing of these targets.

With nearly 740 Aircraft made up of Lancasters, Halifaxes, and Mosquitos, Bomber Command set out to attack 7 targets on the night of 24th June 1944. These targets were Pommereval, Prouville, Rimeux, Middel Straete, Bamieres, Le Grande Rossignol and Flers in the Pas-de-Calais. All these were confirmed V1 sites. These aircraft were drawn from various Bomber Command Groups, 1,3,4,5,6,and 8 stationed around the UK.

The Target, Prouville was entirely given to No 5 Group who would employ the low level marking techniques developed by W/C L. Cheshire, The Commanding Officer, 617 Squadron, Woodhall Spa, and other members of the Squadron. Prouville was set up to be the second raid of the night which turned out to be entirely unfavourable for bombers. The meteorological conditions were a cloudless night and a bright moon. Not the type of conditions favoured by Bomber Command. These conditions made Bombers easy targets for searchlight assisted ground fire and night fighters alike. Because the targets were in Northern France, and because the threat of V1 Rockets to the home counties was of such critical importance, the attacks were deemed feasible and the risk of moonlight and clear skies had to be taken. As we know this was one of the most costly raids to the Allied Air Forces. The loss was rate was approaching 12% and as stated by Sir Arthur Harris, an unacceptable rate of loss being nearly 3 times that of what could be reasonably expected. The RAF No 5 Group lost a total of 13 aircraft from the 112 fielded for the attack.

*Aircraft*	*Serial Number*	*Squadron Code*	*Pilot* Click the Pilot Name for the complete crew operations.
Lancaster	LM205	P0-B	P/O K.V.Millar
Lancaster	LM100	PO-D	P/O T.E.W.Davis
Lancaster	LM119	PO-E	F/L J.S.A.Marshall
Lancaster	LM1O1	P0-J	F/L R.W.Reynolds
Lancaster	LM450	P0-K Shot down	P/O A.A.W.Berryman
Lancaster	ND729	P0-L Shot down	F/L R.R.Cowan
Lancaster	LM448	P0-M	P/O N.R.McDonald
Lancaster	LM583	P0-0	P/O J.W.Waugh
Lancaster	LL789	P0-P	P/O V.A.Baggott
Lancaster	ME853	P0-Q	F/O S.C.Carey
Lancaster	DV373	P0-R	F/L L.Hawes
Lancaster	R5868	P0-S View S-Sugar	F/O G.C.Skelton
Lancaster	LM338	P0-U	P/O T.N.Scholefield
Lancaster	LL846	P0-V	P/O S.Johns
Lancaster	DV277	P0-W	F/0 D.F.McLauchlan
Lancaster	LL843	PO-X	P/O J.L.Sayers

*Aircraft*	*Serial Number*	*Squadron Code*	*Pilot* Click the Pilot Name for the complete crew operations.
Lancaster	LL795	JO-A	F/O G.S.Jenkins
Lancaster	DV374	JO-B	P/O G.M.Denholm
Lancaster	LM551	JO-C	P/O G.R.Campbell
Lancaster	LL847	JO-D	P/O J.H.Dechastel
Lancaster	LM571	JO-E Shot down	P/O J.F.Martin
Lancaster	ME7O1	JO-F	F/L B.F.Buckham
Lancaster	HK536	JO-H	P/O J.V.Bowen
Lancaster	LM574	JO-J Shot down	P/O J.M.Tilbrook
Lancaster	ME614	JO-K	P/O N.E.Webb
Lancaster	LM587	JO-L	W/O J.R.Worthington
Lancaster	LM13O	JO-N	P/O R.F.Hattam
Lancaster	LL790	JO-O	P/O G.Garden
Lancaster	LL844	JO-R	P/O I.J.Dack
Lancaster	ME615	JO-T	F/O J.A.Wilkinson
Lancaster	ED611	JO-U	P/O N.W.Sanders
Lancaster	LM597	JO-W Shot down	W/C D.R.Donaldson