Operation carpet excavator

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Operation Carpetbagger was a generic term for airborne supplies (weapons and other material) used by the US armed forces for the resistance in France , Italy and the Benelux countries during the Second World War . The operation began on January 4, 1944.

Since the formation of the group until the end of the war in May 1945, parachute agents and goods for the resistance in France, Benelux, Denmark and Norway had been dropped in cooperation with the Special Operations Executive and later the Special Forces Headquarters (SFHQ) in London .

history

At the end of 1943, the 22nd Anti-Submarine Squadron (anti-submarine squadron ) of the 8th Air Force was disbanded at RAF Alconbury in Great Britain and their aircraft were incorporated into the newly formed 36th and 406th Bomb Squadron . These two squadrons were placed under the direction of the 801st Bombardment Group (Provisional) in early 1944 after some back and forth , and the first carpet excavator missions were under the command of General William "Wild Bill" Donovan's Office of Strategic Services (OSS) (German : Strategic Services Office ).

In April 1944, the squadrons moved to RAF Harrington ( Station 179 ), a more remote and therefore safer base. A month later, in anticipation of the invasion of Europe , the unit was increased to four squadrons by the 788th and 850th Bomb Squadron to increase capacity and relieve the RAF Bomber Command .

In August 1944 the provisional status of the group was abandoned and the men and the name of the 492d Bombardment Group of the base RAF North Pickenham were adopted, but remained at its location. The squadrons were now named 856th, 857th, 858th, 859th Bomb Squadron . The term carpetbaggers , which can already be found in the operation name, was used as a nickname .

During a hiatus in operations that lasted from mid-September to the end of 1944, the group carried out the transport of fuel by sea to depots on mainland Europe for two weeks in order to supply the advancing Allied forces. After that, three squadrons went into training for night attacks, while the 856th was busy with the repatriation of Allied air force members who had either escaped captivity or were allowed to leave Switzerland due to the change in internment regulations in the Alpine state. This task was accomplished through the use of Douglas DC-3 machines assigned to the group the previous summer.

In December 1944, the 859th Squadron was transferred to the 15th Air Force for the theater of war in the Mediterranean region of Brindisi , Italy, where it was used with the 2641st Special Operations Group . The 856th squadron resumed carpet excavator missions after the repatriation measures were completed, but only to a limited extent due to the bad weather in spring 1945, while the two remaining squadrons (857th and 858th) from December 1944 to March 1945 participated in bombardments from medium Height attended.

The carpet excavator operations continued in the spring of 1945, albeit not to the same extent as in the previous year. The 857th Squadron was separated from the group in late March and moved to the 91st Bombardment Group at RAF Bassingbourn base, while the 856th and 858th Squadrons brought a small number of agents and sabotage teams to the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Germany . In April 1945, operations in Harrington were largely suspended, except for a few OSS special missions such as the repatriation of foreign dignitaries to their formerly occupied home countries. In early July 1945 the group was transferred back to the United States.

Operations

Dropping of supplies for the Resistance, 1944

The B-24 bombers used for the missions were modified by removing some machine gun domes and equipment (such as oxygen equipment) useless for the missions, in order to save as much weight as possible and to achieve more cargo volume and higher speed. The rear guns were kept as protection from night fighters.

Agents and boxes of goods were through the gap left by the removal of the abdominal dome by parachute dropped. In addition, goods containers were developed that could be dropped through the aircraft bomb shafts. The drop points were precisely determined, making precise navigation by the pilots essential. All flights were made on a moonlit night so that the pilots could use rivers, lakes, railway lines or towns as landmarks. The pilot, like the copilot and the bombardier, had maps for determining the targets, while the navigator tried to determine the position using dead reckoning and was in radio contact with the other crew members.

Each flight was individual, the navigator chose his route in coordination with the pilot. On flights to destinations in France, the aircraft crossed the coast at an altitude of about 6,000 feet to avoid enemy flak fire . Over the land, the height was reduced to about 500 feet to avoid night hunters and to achieve the best possible orientation at all times. The limited visibility at higher altitudes would make this more difficult or even impossible. The drops were made from the low altitude of 400 to 500 feet (discretion of the pilot) and thus achieved a high degree of effectiveness.

When it was only a few minutes away from the drop zone, the crews of the aircraft began to look for the points. Normally these were identified by three spotlights placed in a row and one at a 90 ° angle to indicate the direction of the launch. On the approach to the target, the aircraft had to reduce its speed to around 200 km / h and was then able to drop its load. The agents got out first, then the cargo followed. In some cases, multiple drops were made in isolated zones at different intervals. Beacons served as orientation instead of headlights. In rare cases, radio contact was established between the aircraft and the ground, which was of great importance as the navigation could be made more precise.

Today, the group is widely regarded as the predecessor of the Air Force Special Operations Command .

See also

literature

  • Ben Parnell: Carpetbaggers: America's secret was in Europe. Eakin Press, 1987. ISBN 0-89015-592-5 .

Web links