Operation Orator

Operation Orator was the code name for a 1942 mission in which two British Commonwealth maritime strike squadrons flew to the Soviet air base Vayenga-1 near Vayenga (Vaenga; later Severomorsk), on the Kola Inlet, 40 km (25 miles) north of Murmansk in North-West Russia.

The operation called for RAF Coastal Command torpedo bombers, operating out of Vayenga, to provide air cover for Arctic convoy PQ 18. It was believed that convoy was vulnerable to the German surface fleet – including the battleship Tirpitz.^[1][2]

A Hampden TB.1 torpedo bomber attacks a German vessel.
(A photograph taken of a Coastal Command operation in 1943, after the return to the UK of No. 144 Squadron RAF and No. 455 Squadron RAAF.)

Background

In Operation Benedict, during late 1941, the Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft of No. 151 Wing RAF had been gifted to the Soviet Union. Along with the Hurricanes, the pilots and ground crew of 151 Wing had been transported by aircraft carrier to Vayenga. Before returning to Britain, the pilots and ground staff of 151 Wing were responsible for ground attack missions in support of the Red Army and trained Soviet personnel in using the Hurricanes.

In June 1942, the Arctic convoy route was suspended after most of the ships in convoy PQ 17 were sunk by German U-boats and aircraft. Convoys also faced a looming threat from German surface vessels – especially the large battleship Tirpitz, based at Altafjord in Norway. From mid-August, in a Kriegsmarine operation codenamed Wunderland, a task force composed of the pocket battleship Admiral Scheer, two U-boats and three destroyers cruised further north, hunting Allied convoys.

Planning for Operation Orator called for a wing of torpedo bombers, supported by maritime patrol and photoreconnaissance aircraft, to operate from bases in North Russia. RAF Coastal Command would detach 32 aircraft from No. 144 Squadron RAF (144 Sqn) and No. 455 Squadron (455 Sqn), Royal Australian Air Force – both operating the Handley Page Hampden TB.1 torpedo bomber. Their crews would to fly to, and operate from, three airfields in Murmansk Oblast: Afrikanda, Beloye More (also known as Beloe) and Gremikha (Gremiakha).^[3] (While some sources describe 144 Sqn as "Canadian", it was not officially associated with Canada and was not a RCAF "Article XV squadron". This impression may have been created by two factors: many Hampdens operated by the wing were built by Canadian Associated Aircraft, and individual RCAF personnel and Canadians serving in the RAF were posted to both 144 and 455 squadrons.) The wing was to be commanded by Group Captain F. L. (Frank) Hopps (RAF), from a headquarters at Polyarny (Polyarnoye), on the Kola Inlet, 60 kilometres (37 mi) north-north-east of Murmansk.^[4] Two other RAF units were to be involved:

• No. 210 Squadron RAF (210 Sqn), operating Catalinas from RAF Sullom Voe, in Shetland and Lake Lakhta, near Arkhangelsk, would provide blanket surveillance of waters north of Altafjord, and;
• a section from No. 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit RAF (1 PRU), would fly "Extra Super Long Range Spitfires" (PR Mk IV) from RAF Sumburgh in Shetland to Afrikanda.^[5]

Operation

The three photoreconnaissance Spitfires departed on 1 September on a hazardous flight of more than 1,950 km (1,200 mi) from Sumburgh, over the North Sea, German-occupied Norway, Sweden (technically in breach of Swedish neutrality), the Gulf of Bothnia and Finland (with which the Commonwealth countries were at war) to Afrikanda. All three Spitfires arrived safely.^[6]

On 2 September 1942, as PQ 18 departed from Loch Ewe, the Hampden squadrons flew from their base at RAF Leuchars to Sumburgh. On 4 September they departed for Afrikanda, on routes similar to those taken by the Spitfires. The flight was to take between five and eight hours, depending on weather conditions and enemy activity. Rather than torpedoes or bombs, each Hampden was to carry extra fuel and a member of the wing's ground staff. Most of the ground staff, however, travelled to Murmansk with the wing's munitions and other stores, on the US heavy cruiser Tuscaloosa.^[6]

Nine Hampdens were lost or seriously damaged during the flight, due mainly to harsh Arctic weather, fuel starvation following compass failures, interception by enemy fighters and anti-aircraft fire.^{[7] [1][8][9][10]}

• AT109 (squadron code "UB-C"; 455 Sqn), captained by S/L Jimmy Catanach,^[11] was damaged by flak from the German submarine chaser UJ1105 off the north coast of Norway and made a forced landing on a beach at Molvika, near Kiberg, where the crew became prisoners of war (POWs).^[9][10][12]
• AT138 ("PL-C"; 144 Sqn) was attacked by a fighter over Finland; three crew members and their passenger were killed, although the captain, Sgt J. C. R. (John) Bray baled out and became a POW – the Hampden crashed near Alakurtti.^[9][10]
• P1273 ("PL-Q"; 144 Sqn) was attacked by fighters over Finland; the captain, Sgt Harry Bertrand, other crew members and passenger baled out successfully and became POWs – the Hampden crashed in a swamp near Petsamo.^[10]
• P1344 ("PL-K"; 144 Sqn), captained by P/O E. H. E. Perry, was attacked by two fighters from Jagdgeschwader 5 (Messerschmitt Bf 109) after passing over the German airfield at Petsamo and crash-landed on the Kola Peninsula – three crew members were killed, while Perry and his passenger became POWs.^[10]
• AE436 ("PL-J"; 144 Sqn) as a result of icing over Sweden, this Hampden flew into Tsatsa mountain, near Kvikkjokk; the only survivors were the pilot, P/O D. I. Evans, and his passenger.^[10]
• P5304 ("UB-H"; 455 Sqn), piloted by Sgt E. J. "Sandy" Smart, was also probably affected by icing,^[8] and crashed into Arvestuottar mountain, near Arjeplog in Sweden, killing the crew and their passenger.^[9][10][12]
• P5323 ("UB-L"; 455 Sqn), captained by P/O Rupert "Jeep" Patrick, ran out of fuel and crash-landed at Kandalaksha, without injury to the crew.^[9][12]
• AE356 (code unknown; 144 Sqn), piloted by Sgt Walter Hood, was mistaken for an enemy aircraft by Soviet air defences near Murmansk; the Hampden sustained damage in an attack by Soviet fighters and after Hood was forced to ditch in a lake, one crew member drowned.^[9][10]
• AE310 (code unknown; 144 Sqn) was low on fuel by the time it reached Afrikanda and damaged in a forced landing.^[10]

It appears that either AE310 or P5323 was repaired and returned to service.^[13]

13 September 1942. The US Navy cargo ship SS Mary Luckenbach, carrying 1,000 tons of TNT, explodes violently during convoy PQ 18, eight days away from Arkhangelsk. The ship was attacked by several German aircraft and hit by an aerial torpedo.

Operation Orator became known to German commanders, partly as a result of the Hampdens downed in Norway and Finland.^[14] This may have discouraged the Kriegsmarine surface fleet Tirpitz did not leave port and the task force led by Scheer remained far north of PQ 18 as the convoy rounded North Cape. On 10 September the cruisers Admiral Hipper and Köln, with two destroyers, were intercepted by the British submarine HMS Tigris off northerrn Norway.

The Hampden wing regrouped at Vayenga – which was further from the front line than the bases near Polyarny – and flew some some sorties from there, without sighting German vessels. While their airbases were bombed repeatedly by the Luftwaffe during their time there, no further casualties or losses were sustained by the Hampden squadrons. A Spitfire was destroyed in an air raid, necessitating the ferrying of a replacement from Scotland and a pilot from 1 PRU was later lost on a sortie over Norway.

German U-boats and the Luftwaffe attacked PQ 18. However, the convoy was notable for being the first Arctic convoy to include an aircraft carrier for fighter cover: the air group of the escort carrier HMS Avenger included up to 18 aircraft from 802 and 883 Naval Air Squadrons, which operated the Hawker Sea Hurricane Mk I. After the convoy was spotted by reconnaissance aircraft from Luftflotte 5,^[15] the convoy was attacked by torpedo bombers from Kampfgeschwader 26: 28 from I/KG 26 (Heinkel He 111 H-6) and 14 from III/KG 26 (Junkers Ju 88 A-4) – as well as 35 dive bombers from Kampfgeschwader 30 (Ju 88A-4).^[16] The main Luftwaffe tactic included the "Goldene Zange ("golden comb") – a massed attack by torpedo bombers timed to coincide with passes by the dive bombers, in an attempt to overwhelm the convoy's defences.

PQ 18 arrived in Arkhangelsk on 21 September. While 13 ships from the convoy had been lost, 28 arrived safely. The German losses included at least three U-boats and 41 aircraft.^[17]

Aftermath

PQ 18 was seen as a success by the Allies, in part due to the absence of German surface vessels and the renewed credibility of Arctic convoys. Furthermore, the convoy's escort ships and aircraft from Avenger had claimed three U-boats and 40 German aircraft shot down.

While it was originally intended that the Hampdens would be flown back to Scotland, the prevailing west-east headwinds on such a flight may have pushed the Hampdens beyond their maximum range. According to at least one source, the CO of 455 Sqn, W/Cdr Grant Lindeman, persuaded British commanders to transport the wing's personnel back to Britain and gift the Hampdens to the Soviet Navy. Members of 144 and 455 Squadrons trained aircrews and mechanics from 24th Mine-Torpedo Aviation Regiment (24 MTAP), Maritime Military Fleet Aviation (Aviatsiya Voenno-Morskogo Flota).. The Coastal Command personnel returned to Britain by sea in October.^[1]

Soviet aircrews operated the "balalaika" – their nickname for the Hampden, in reference to its unusual shape – until July 1943, when losses, a lack of replacements and a shortage of spares forced its retirement. 24 MTAP then reverted to the Ilyushin DB-3/Ilyushin Il-4.

Commonwealth aircrews remained active in the Murmansk area until 1944, mainly in the form of maritime patrol and escort duty supporting Arctic convoys. They operated Catalina, Lockheed Hudson and photoreconnaissance Spitfire aircraft out of Vaenga and Lakhta.^[1]

For the remainder of the war, 144 Sqn and 455 Sqn – both later re-equipped with Bristol Beaufighters – frequently operated together as part of the same strike wing.

Footnotes

Bibliography

• Alexander, Kristin. 2009, Jack Davenport, Beaufighter Leader, Sydney; Allen & Unwin, pp. 133–42.
• Bekker, Cajus. 1964, The Luftwaffe War Diaries. New York: Ballantine Books. pp. 394–398.
• Cowan, Brendan. 2016, "RAAF Handley Page HP.52 Hampden Mk.I & TB. Mk.I", ADF Serials (19 November 2016).
• Forced Landing Collection, 2012, "1942-09-05 Handley-Page HP 52 Hampden TB 1 - Serial # P5304" (19 November 2016).
• Kroupnik, Vladimir. 2011, RAAF in Russia (19 November 2016).
• Laurimaa, Kalevi. 2012, RAF bomber forced to land on mountain Tsatsa in sept. 1942 (19 November 2016).
• Raebel, Geoff. 2010, RAAF in Russia (19 November 2016).
• Schofield, Ernest & Conyers Nesbit, Roy. 1987, Arctic Airmen: the RAF in Spitsbergen and North Russia 1942, London, W. Kimber & Co., p. 191.
• Smith, Peter. 1975, Convoy PQ18: Arctic Victory, London, Kimber, p. 124.
• Sorenson, Kjell. 2011, Handley Page HP52 Hampden Tsatsa, Sarek Sweden (19 November 2016).
• Walling, Michael G. 2012, Forgotten Sacrifice: the Arctic convoys of World War II, Oxford, UK; Osprey, pp. 201–9.
• Wood, Tony & Gunston, Bill. 1990, Hitler's Luftwaffe, New York, Crescent Books, pp. 70, 72.