The 1st RAF Bombing Raid against the Schneider Works at Le Creusot, known as Operation Robinson, was undertaken during the daylight hours of 17th October 1942. The Mission was assigned to No.5-Group, which had converted to the new Avro Lancaster. The Lancaster’s large Lift capacity & High Speed gave reason for Optimism that the Raid might succeed.
Schneider Works produced Steel, Rails, Locomotives, Artillery & other Armaments. It was largely viewed as the French equivalent of Germany’s Krupp Works, and was located in Le Creusot in South Central France. To reach it would require Flying 300-miles over occupied Territory. For Arthur Harris, Bomber Command’s Commander in Chief, the Schneider Plant was the Highest Priority Target in France. To minimize loss of life to French Civilians any Attack on the Plant would have to be made during the day. In his Arsenal he had a new Bomber in Service that was now coming to the Force in significant numbers. A 4-Engine Aircraft, the Avro Lancaster had excellent Range, a tremendous Lift capacity & was fast. It was hoped that this would be enough to tip the scales in favour of the Bomber Crews. Flying a Direct Route was out of the question. German Fighter Bases were concentrated in Northern France, Belgium & Germany, and with no Fighter Escort available after the 1st 200-miles German Fighter Aircraft would Decimate the Attackers. The Plan formulated was to take advantage of the Range of the Lancaster and send the Force out over the Ocean, bringing them in to the Target from the West. The Planes would Fly at low level to avoid Radar Detection. The Aircraft would leave in the afternoon, make their Attack as Light faded, and then fly a Direct return under the cover of Darkness. It was hoped that the new Aircraft would be fast enough to avoid German Defences and would carry a large enough Bomb Load to cause significant damage to the Target.
Op-6 – Le Creusot 19th June 1943 158 Squadron Halifax Bll Bob Gill as Rear Gunner
290 Aircraft
181 Halifax’s, 107 Stirlings, 2 Lancasters
To Bomb the Schneider Armaments Factory & the Breuil Steelworks at Le Creusot. The Tactics for this Raid were that the Pathfinders would only drop Flares and that each Crew of the Main Force was to identify their Part of the Target by the Light of these Flares. The Main Force Crews were then to make 2 Runs over the Target area, dropping a short stick of Bombs on each Run from Altitudes between 5,000 & 10,000ft. By this Stage of the War, however, Main Force Crews were used to Bombing Target Indicators and many had difficulty in making a Visual Identification of their Target. Lingering smoke from the large number of Flares was blamed for most of the difficulty. Bombing photographs showed that all Crews Bombed within 3-miles of the Centre of the Target but only about one 5th managed to Hit the Factories. Many Bombs fell on nearby Residential Property but no report could be obtained from France to give details of Casualties.
26 of the H2S equipped Pathfinders who had released Flares at Le Creusot were intended to Fly on to drop Flares over the Electrical-Transformer Station at Montchanin. By the light of these Flares, a further 26 Lancaster Bombers of No.8-Group were to Attack this 2nd Target. Most of the Attacking Crews, however, mistook a small Metal Factory for the Transformer Station & Bombed that Target instead. A few Aircraft did identify the correct Target but their Bombs scored no Hits on it.
2 Halifaxes lost.
21st June 1943 Aircrew Posted to 35 Squadron Raf Graveley – Pathfinders
Air Gunner Bob Gill DFM 