Page 16 - 576 Squadron History

Dessau was raided 2 nights later and the Lancaster and crews of Flying Officer G. H. Paley and
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Flying Officer C. T. Dalziel failed to return. Flying Officer Paley’s crew were on their 29 operation
and sadly all were killed.

A large daylight raid was mounted on Essen on the 11 March which proved to be the last major
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attack on this city by Bomber Command in the war. The attack was marked by Oboe directed sky
markers through complete cloud cover and proved very accurate and paralyzed Essen until the
Americans were able to take the city sometime later.
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The Deurag Refinery at Misburg was attacked on the night of the 15/16 March and the following
night Nuremberg was attacked. German night fighters made contact with the bomber stream on its
way to the target and many bombers were lost. Three crews that night failed to return to base,
Flight Lieutenant F. E. Dotten R.C.A.F and crew were lost in collision with a Ju 88 night fighter
flown by Major Gerhard Friedrich, commander of 1/NJG6. Friedrich had shot down 30 bombers in
his career, there were no survivors from either aircraft. Flight Sergeant John Ryan R.A.A.F fell
victim to Oberleutnant (Flying Officer) Erich Jung of NJG-2 (Nachtjagdgeschwader 2) piloting a
Junkers 88 G-6 night fighter with just the rear gunner escaping the doomed Lancaster.
Flight Sergeant Peter Sattler R.A.A.F baled out from his crippled Lancaster and was taken
prisoner with two other crew members. Three of Peters crew were killed with one missing.

On the 18 March the Squadron was tasked to bomb the petro-chemical plant at Hanau. On this
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operation the starboard wing of Lancaster Y2 flown by Flying Officer W.W. Holmes R.C.A.F was
holed by an incendiary bomb from another Squadron Lancaster. The pilot flew the damaged
Lancaster back to Fiskerton and landed safely.
The benzoyl plant at Harpenerweg was the target for a daylight raid on the 24 March and on the
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31 March the Blohm und Voss shipyards at Hamburg, which were building the new U Boats, were
attacked in daylight. Cloud cover resulted in widespread but serious damage.

15 operations were flown in March and 212 sorties detailed from which 6 failed to return. It was
noted that the night fighters and flak were concentrated in certain vital areas and important targets
and had on occasion been quite effective. Wing Commander McAllister took over command of the
Squadron and Squadron Leader Bradbury took over ‘A’ Flight.
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576 Squadron sustained their last casualty on the night of the 4/5 April 1945 when the Lancaster
and crew of Flight Sergeant D. U. Hogg failed to return from an operation to attack the oil refinery
at Lützkendorf.

The Squadron was reinforced at this time when a ‘C’ Flight was formed from aircraft and crews
from 625 Squadron at Kelstern under the command of Squadron Leader Hammond. Kiel was
attacked on the 9/10 April and the Deutsche Werke U Boat yard was seriously damaged and the
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German cruisers Admiral Hipper and Emden badly damaged. 29 Lancasters and crews had been
detailed from the Squadron for this raid. Two heavy raids each on the naval base and airfield at
Heligoland and Bremen followed. The Bremen attack was in preparation to the assault by British
land forces soon after.

The last bombing operation undertaken by 576 Squadron was a major daylight attack on
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Berchtesgarten which was Hitler’s mountain retreat on the 25 April and the Squadron detailed 23
Lancasters and crews for this operation. The bombing was hampered because the mountains
blocked out the signals from an Oboe ground station but appeared to be accurate and effective.