Hi All, I was reading the excellent book 'Patton's Eyes in the Sky' by Tom Ivie last night and came across an interesting account of a sortie flown by four aircraft of the 155th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron, 10th Photo Reconnaissance Group on the night of 5th/6th June 1944. It was critical for Eisenhower's Supreme Headquarters to know how early the Germans would react to the Normandy landings and from where they would send reinforcements to the invasion area. To this end, the 155th Night PRS / 10th PRG, USAAF was tasked to check for any road or rail movement on the Cotentin Peninsula. Just before midnight on the 5th June, four F3A Photo Havocs took off from the Squadron's base at Chalgrove Airfield in Oxfordshire, bound for Normandy. They approached the Cotentin from the west, over the Channel Islands and then increased altitude to 8,000 ft before commencing their photo runs. Three of the four aircraft piloted by Lts Thomas Starmont, Conoly G. Anderson and Cliffe Mackie carried flash bombs to illuminate their targets, while the forth aircraft flown by Lt. William Lentscher carried an Edgerton Lamp. The same cloud bank which caused so much trouble to the American Troop Carrier C-47s also proved troublesome to the four PR pilots and coupled with a lack of experience with the GEE system of navigation, resulted in the three flash bomb equipped F3As aborting the mission before any photography could be carried out. The fourth aircraft, piloted by Lentscher and crewed by Lt. Cohn (navigator/photographer) and Sgt James Willis (gunner) flew on despite the poor visibility. The crew successfully photographed both their assigned targets of Villedieu les Poeles and Coutances. No German movement on the roads in these towns was detected in the illuminated night photos taken by Lt. Cohn when the film was developed and interpreted back at Chalgrove. Below is an extract from one of Lt. Cohn's photos taken on the sortie: Considering their assigned targets appears to have been just the two towns, it wasn't hard to find the location in Villedieu les Poeles As you can see from the green map tacks, there is digitised NCAP cover available for the town from US7GR/1769 flown on the 7th June (in daylight) - see frame 4019 from this sortie showing the large 'L' building at top left. I am looking to track down the sortie number for this night mission and also any additional frames. Also very welcome would be information on the crew or indeed the 155th Night PRS as a whole. Thanks, Pat
Thanks Allan, I wish they were all that easy When I was doing a bit of googling last night for this thread, I came across a photo of a RAF Mosie being loaded with flash bombs. I cannot recall if it was a photo plane or a pathfinder but I was surprised at the size of the bombs - they looked like small torpedoes! Do you have any intel on the Edgerton Lamp and its use in the ETO? I have never come across any French civilian accounts of either flash bombs or this instrument being seen at night - just wondering what their deployment would have looked like to people on the ground. Loss of night vision would have been instantaneous no doubt, so I presume the aircraft crew would have worn dark goggles. Regards, Pat
Hello Pat See http://edgerton-digital-collections.org/stories/seeing-in-the-dark The system’s most famous test came on the evening of June 5, 1944, when the night reconnaissance planes took off for Normandy. They were followed shortly by a flying army in C-47s, headed for the D-Day invasion of France. The photographs taken that night showed no movement of enemy forces; the German troops were taken completely by surprise. “The clouds were down to about a thousand feet and the flash bombs couldn’t be used at all. They were designed to work at 10,000 feet,” Edgerton recalled. “So those pictures were useful, they were used all during the war.” http://edgerton-digital-collections.org/docs-life/wartime-strobe regards Allan
Thanks Allan, The photo on your link here is almost certainly Normandy. I think the caption refers to the 155th PRS and the date looks like the 11th August 44, so a night photo of German vehicles near the end game in Normandy? Regards, Pat
Hello Pat I was amazed to find the correct information so quickly - and with some pretty amazing photos as well - what more could we ask for !! regards Allan
Interesting OP by Pat Curran, There is a reference to Conoly Anderson, one of the 4 pilots on the June 5th night PR mission over the Nomandy AO preceeding the invasion. My fathers brother (whom had a twin brother on the ground after the invasion) was LT Andersons likely navigator during this sortie. Pilot- LT Conoly Anderson, Navigator- LT Nelson Huggins (My Uncle), Gunner S/Sgt Kenneth Borove and passenger- LT George Franklin were all KIA on March 14, 1945 on a lone night PR mission flying out of airfield A-89 aka LaCulot, Belgium IIRC to Germany. No witnesses after wheels up, no radio contact, no search. (Source "missing aircraft report 13087"). RIP Very interesting thread and if anyone has any leads on detailed information regarding this unique squadron it would be appreciated. Semper Fi Gunner