Operation Manna and Operation Chowhound were humanitarian
food drops, carried out to relieve a
famine in the German-occupied Netherlands, undertaken by
Allied
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
bomber crews during the
final days of World War II in Europe. Manna (29 April - 7 May 1945), which dropped 7000 tonnes of food into the still Nazi-Occupied western part of the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, was carried out by British
RAF
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
units, as well as squadrons from the
Australian
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal A ...
,
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
and
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
air forces. Chowhound (1–8 May 1945), which dropped 4000 tonnes, was undertaken by the
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
, for a total of over 11,000 tonnes
of food. This was done with the acquiescence of the occupying
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
forces, to help feed Dutch civilians in danger of starvation.
After it was realised that Manna and Chowhound would be insufficient, a ground-based relief operation named Operation Faust was launched. On 2 May, 200 Allied trucks began delivering food to the city of
Rhenen
Rhenen () is a municipality and a city in the central Netherlands.
The municipality also includes the villages of Achterberg, Remmerden, Elst and Laareind. The town lies at a geographically interesting location, namely on the southernmost par ...
, behind German lines.
Negotiations
By early 1945, the situation was growing desperate for the three million or more Dutch still under German control.
Prince Bernhard
, house = Lippe
, father = Prince Bernhard of Lippe
, mother = Armgard von Cramm
, birth_date =
, birth_name = Count Bernhard of Biesterfeld
, birth_place = Jena, Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Germany
, death_date = ...
appealed directly to Allied Supreme Commander
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
, but Eisenhower did not have the authority to negotiate a truce with the Germans. While the prince got permission from British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
and U.S. President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
, Eisenhower had Air Commodore
Andrew Geddes begin planning immediately. On 23 April, authorisation was given by the Chief of Staff,
George Marshall
George Catlett Marshall Jr. (December 31, 1880 – October 16, 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the US Army under Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry ...
.
Allied agents negotiated with Reichskommissar
Arthur Seyss-Inquart
Arthur Seyss-Inquart (German: Seyß-Inquart, ; 22 July 1892 16 October 1946) was an Austrian Austrian National Socialism, Nazi politician who served as Chancellor of Austria in 1938 for two days before the ''Anschluss''. His positions in Nazi Ge ...
and a team of German officers. Among the participants were the Canadian future writer
Farley Mowat
Farley McGill Mowat, (May 12, 1921 – May 6, 2014) was a Canadian writer and environmentalist. His works were translated into 52 languages, and he sold more than 17 million books. He achieved fame with the publication of his books on the Can ...
and the German commander-in-chief, General
Johannes Blaskowitz
Johannes Albrecht Blaskowitz (10 July 1883 – 5 February 1948) was a German ''Generaloberst'' during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. After joining the Imperial German Army in 1 ...
. It was agreed that the participating aircraft would not be fired upon within specified air corridors.
Operation Manna
The British operation started first. It was named after the
food
Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...
which was miraculously provided to the Israelites in the
Book of Exodus
The Book of Exodus (from grc, Ἔξοδος, translit=Éxodos; he, שְׁמוֹת ''Šəmōṯ'', "Names") is the second book of the Bible. It narrates the story of the Exodus, in which the Israelites leave slavery in Biblical Egypt through t ...
. The planning of the operation was initially done by the Royal Air Force.
[Hawkins 1995, p. 277.]
The first of the two RAF
Avro Lancasters
The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...
chosen for the test flight, the morning of 29 April 1945, was nicknamed ''Bad Penny'', as in the expression: "
a bad penny always turns up". This bomber, with a crew of seven young men (five from Ontario, Canada, including pilot Robert Upcott of
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the souther ...
), took off in bad weather despite the fact that the Germans had not yet agreed to a ceasefire. (Seyss-Inquart would do so the next day.) ''Bad Penny'' had to fly low, down to , over German guns, but succeeded in dropping her cargo and returning to her airfield.
Operation ''Manna'' then began in earnest. British aircraft from
Groups 1,
3, and
8 took part, flying 145 sorties by
Mosquitoes
Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning "gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "litt ...
and 3,156 sorties by
Lancaster bombers, flying between them a total of 3,301
sortie
A sortie (from the French word meaning ''exit'' or from Latin root ''surgere'' meaning to "rise up") is a deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops, from a strongpoint. The term originated in siege warfare. ...
s.
The bomber crews were experienced with bomb drops from , however this operation was performed at a height of , some even flying as low as , as the cargo did not have parachutes. The drop zones, marked by Mosquitoes from 105 and 109 Squadrons using
Oboe
The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range.
A ...
, were:
Katwijk
Katwijk (), also spelled Katwyk, is a coastal municipality and town in the province of South Holland, which is situated in the mid-western part of the Netherlands.
The Oude Rijn ("Old Rhine") river flows through the town and into the North Se ...
(
Valkenburg airfield),
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
(
Duindigt
Renbaan Duindigt is a horse racing venue in Wassenaar, Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, establis ...
horse race course and
Ypenburg
Leidschenveen-Ypenburg () is a Vinex-location and district of The Hague, located in the southeast. It is geographically connected to the main body of the city by only a narrow corridor. It consists of four quarters: Hoornwijk and Ypenburg on the ...
airfield),
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
(
Waalhaven
Waalhaven Airport in 1932, with the Graf Zeppelin in the background.
The Waalhaven is a harbour in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. It used to be home to an airport, Vliegveld Waalhaven (Waalhaven Airport). It was the second civilian airport in the ...
airfield and
Kralingse Plas) and
Gouda.
Bomber Command
Bomber Command is an organisational military unit, generally subordinate to the air force of a country. The best known were in Britain and the United States. A Bomber Command is generally used for strategic bombing (although at times, e.g. during t ...
delivered a total of 6,680 tons of food.
John Funnell, a navigator on the operation, says the food dropped was tinned food, dried food and chocolate.
The idea was for people to gather and redistribute the food, but some could not resist eating straight away, which caused some people to get sick and vomit, (and some died) a result that fatty food can have in starved bodies known as
refeeding syndrome. On the other hand, distribution sometimes took as long as ten days, resulting in some getting the food only after the liberation. Nevertheless, many lives were saved, and it gave hope and the feeling that the war would soon be over.
Operation Chowhound
On the American side, ten bomb groups of the US Third Air Division flew 2,268 sorties beginning 1 May,
delivering a total of 4,000 tons.
[Manna From Heaven](_blank)
Legion Magazine, May 1, 2005, by Ted Barris 400
B-17 Flying Fortress
The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...
bombers of the
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
dropped 800 tons of
K-ration
The K-ration was an individual daily combat food ration which was introduced by the United States Army during World War II. It was originally intended as an individually packaged daily ration for issue to airborne troops, tank crews, motorcycle co ...
s during 1–3 May on
Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport ( nl, Luchthaven Schiphol, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer in the province ...
.
At least one B-17 crew, that of the ''Stork Club'' from the 550th squadron received battle recognition despite having no guns for their humanitarian mission, as a result of receiving fire from German flak.
Losses
Three aircraft were lost: two in a collision and one due to engine fire. Bullet holes were discovered in several aircraft upon their return,
presumably the result of being fired upon by individual German soldiers who were unaware of, or actively violating, the ceasefire.
Myths
Earlier, before the start of the airdrops, there had been a distribution of white "Swedish bread" made from
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
flour that was shipped in and baked locally. A popular myth holds that this bread was dropped from aircraft, but that is a mix-up between the air operations and another humanitarian assistance whereby flour from Sweden was allowed to enter Dutch harbour by ship.
Also, no food was dropped using
parachutes
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...
during operations Manna and Chowhound, as is often wrongfully claimed.
Recognition
A commemorative plaque to thank the Royal Air Force for their help in mounting Operation Manna was presented in May 1980 by
Dr W Scholten,
Minister of Defence of the Netherlands and is displayed in the
Royal Air Force Museum
The Royal Air Force Museum is a museum dedicated to the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom. The museum is a non-departmental public body of the Ministry of Defence and is a registered charity.
The museum is split into two separate sites:
* ...
, Hendon, England.
On 28 April 2007, British Air Commodore
Andrew James Wray Geddes
Air Commodore Andrew James Wray Geddes, (31 July 1906 – 15 December 1988) was the senior Royal Air Force officer during the Second World War who led the planning for Operation Manna, the air drop of food supplies to the starving population o ...
was honoured when a hiking trail in the Rotterdam district of Terbregge, the Air Commodore Geddespath, was named after him. This path goes past the Manna/Chowhound monument in the soundwall of the northern highway ring road around Rotterdam. The official unveiling of the plaque was performed by Lieutenant-Commander Angus Geddes RN (son of Andrew Geddes) from England and Warrant Officer David Chiverton from Australia (grandson of Geddes).
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
* uncredited. "They Fell Right In The Larder" ''Aeroplane Monthly'', May 1985.
* Hawkins, Ian. ''B-17s over Berlin: Personal Stories from the 95th Bomb Group (H)''. Washington, DC: Brassey's, Inc., 1995. .
* Onderwater, Hans. ''Operatie "Manna": De Gealieerde Voedseldroppings April/Mei 1945'' (in Dutch). Weesp, Netherlands: Romen Luchtvaart, 1985. .
* Ridder, Willem. ''Countdown To Freedom''. Authorhouse, 2007. .
* Vos MacDonald, Joan. ''Our Mornings May Never Be''. General Store Publishing House, 2002. .
*
External links
Lancaster Museum pageOperation Manna/Chowhound website8mm movie of Operation Manna in RotterdamOperation Mannaat the International Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manna And Chowhound, Operations of 1945
Western European theatre of World War II
Famines in Europe
Operations Manna and Chowhound
Operation Manna and Operation Chowhound were humanitarian food drops, carried out to relieve a famine in the German-occupied Netherlands, undertaken by Allied bomber crews during the final days of World War II in Europe. Manna (29 April - 7 ...
Humanitarian military operations
Netherlands in World War II
History of the Royal Air Force during World War II
Airlifts
Aerial operations and battles of World War II involving the United Kingdom
April 1945 events
May 1945 events