Page 30 - Donald Bernard Graham

Twelfth Operation

th
4 May 1945 Take off: 11.14am. Return: 14.34pm.

Valkenburg (Operation ‘Manna’) Lancaster PA 282 C - Charlie

British aircraft from No. 1, 3 and 8 Groups took part, flying 145 sorties by Mosquitoes
and 3,156 sorties by Lancasters flying between them a total of 3,301 sorties.

These bombers were used to dropping bombs from 20,000 feet, but this time they
had to do their job from a height of 490 feet, some even flying as low as 390 feet, as
their cargo did not have parachutes. The drop zones, marked by Mosquitoes from
105 and 109 Squadrons using Oboe navigational methods, were: Katwijk
(Valkenburg airfield), The Hague (Duindigt horse race course and Ypenburg airfield),
Rotterdam (Waalhaven airfield, Kralingse Plas and Gouda). Bomber Command
delivered a total of 6,680 tons of food.