Date:	Saturday 1 July 1944
Time:	17:30
Type:	Vickers Wellington Mk X
Owner/operator:	40 Sqn RAF
Registration:	LP497
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 5
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	between Pancevo and Smederevo -   Serbia
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Foggia Main
Destination airport:

Narrative:
In the evening of 1 July 1944, 205 Group RAF launched the largest mine laying operation in the Danube so far, with 57 Wellingtons and 18 Liberatoirs detailed to mine the Danube between Nyergsujafalu, 30 miles east of Komarom, and Bazias, 40 miles east of Belgrade. Three Halifaxes of 614 Sqn were detailed, for the first time, to act as route markers. Mining was successfully carried out by 49 Wellingtons and 16 Liberatoirs in the face of what was, at times, considerable anti-aircraft fire. Four Wellingtons did not return, two each of 40 Sqn (4 KIA, 1 POW, 5 EVD) and 104 Sqn (10 KIA), and several other returned with Flak damage, one crew of 150 Sqn being fatally wounded in his bomber that was damaged beyond repair, and a gunner of 40 Sqn being killed.

Eight Wellingtons of 40 Sqn RAF took off from Foggia Main between 2106 and 2116 for this operation, each carrying two mines to drop them in the Danube between Pancevo and Smederevo, east of Belgrade. In bright moonlight, they met intense light Flak and many searchlights. Two Wellingtons were lost, and two other damaged. LN652 was hit by a shell in a fuselage but his pilot, Wt Off Leo Redden RAAF, managed to escape through a break in the river bank. Near Semedervo, ME690 was also hit by Flak and the rear gunner, Sgt Thomas Horwood, was killed when his turret was shattered. The six returning crews landed at Foggia Main between 0200 and 0230 hrs and claimed to have dropped 10 mines in the Danube, two more having hung up during the run and being jettisoned later.

The Wellington X LP497 -A was flown by the senior crew of 40 Sqn, Plt Off George Stephenson Waddell DFC (pilot), Flt Sgt Harry Davison (navigator), Flt Sgt Thomas Charles Hardiwck (wireless operator/air gunner), Flg Off Joseph William Campbell (air bomber) and Sgt Kenneth Withnall (rear gunner), who were flying their 33rd sortie Around midnight, the Wellington X LP497 -A was flying at 50 feet along the Danube towards its dropping point, air speed about 140, when a 20mm cannon laid down a curtain of fire in front of it. The rear gunner, Sgt Withnall, was schocked to see how the whole fuselage burst into flames in an instant. He opened the turrets doors, seized his parachute and they realized they were flying too low and took a crash position. He came to a few hours later, stretched on the ground and almost unhurt. He started looking for the rest of the crew but only saw pieces of body and some wreckage. The four other crew were killed instantly in the crash. Withnall tried to escape by swimming across the Danube but realized that he couldn’t make it, returned to the north bank and was aided by a small group of young Hungarian men, but was then captured by a German patrol and taken to Pancevo, then going to a POW camp in Germany until his liberation in April 1945.

ORB of 40 Sqn RAF, July 1944 (AIR 27/413-12 and AIR 27/413-13)
"Gardening by Moonlight", by Peter Kassak and David Gunby, ISBN 978-80-971891-3-6, pages 63-78
"Royal Air Force Bomber Losses in the Middle East and Mediterranean. Volume 2: 1943-1945", by David Gunby and Pelham Temple. ISBN 978-0-85130-509-7, page 135
https://www.rafcommands.com/database/serials/details.php?uniq=LP497
http://www.maplandia.com/serbia-and-montenegro/vojvodina/pancevo/

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
15-Sep-2023 13:44	Laurent Rizzotti	Updated