Aarhus Air Raid
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The Aarhus Air Raid took place on 31 October 1944, when 25 Mosquitoes from 140 Wing
Royal Air Force 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) an ...
(RAF) of the
2nd Tactical Air Force The RAF Second Tactical Air Force (2TAF) was one of three tactical air forces within the Royal Air Force (RAF) during and after the Second World War. It was made up of squadrons and personnel from the RAF, other British Commonwealth air forc ...
, bombed the
Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...
headquarters at the
University of Aarhus Aarhus University ( da, Aarhus Universitet, abbreviated AU) is a public research university with its main campus located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Gr ...
. After the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, the RAF called the mission the most successful of its kind during the war.


Background

During the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, Aarhus was occupied by German forces, which established their headquarters for the
Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...
area in the eastern parts of the University of Aarhus, placing their main offices and archives in the buildings usually reserved for student dormitories. In Aarhus, the Gestapo was headed by Eugen Schwitzgebel; the ''
Sicherheitsdienst ' (, ''Security Service''), full title ' (Security Service of the '' Reichsführer-SS''), or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Established in 1931, the SD was the first Nazi intelligence organization ...
'', led by ''Obersturmbannführer'' Lonechun and the '' Abwehr'', commanded by ''Oberstleutnant'' Lutze, were also based there. The 577th Volksgrenadier Division was based in Aarhus during the raid. On 25 August 1944 the unit was established; by September its draftees were transferred to the 47th Infantry Division and the last members left Aarhus on 10 November to fight later on the Western Front. The summer and autumn of 1944 was a difficult time for the resistance in Jutland. On 13 December 1943, the British paratrooper Jakob Jensen was caught by the Gestapo in Aarhus. During interrogation he supplied information about the networks of supply groups in
Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...
which resulted in many groups being destroyed and 145 people being arrested, including the Hvidsten Group on 11 March 1944. The resistance movement throughout the peninsula was crippled as supplies dried up. In Aarhus the resistance groups faced another problem as Grethe Bartram from communist and resistance circles in Aarhus was hired as an informant by the Gestapo in March–April 1944. Bartram informed on some 50 resistance members leading to many groups in and around the city being dismantled by German authorities, including the Samsing Group in June 1944. On 7 October the Gestapo arrested the
courier A courier is a person or organisation that delivers a message, package or letter from one place or person to another place or person. Typically, a courier provides their courier service on a commercial contract basis; however, some couriers are ...
Ruth Phillipsen who worked directly for the leadership of the Jutland resistance.
Vagn Bennike Vagn Bennike (6 January 1888 – 30 November 1970) was a Danish army engineer and demolitions expert. During the occupation of Denmark during World War II he worked in the Danish resistance movement in Jutland, where he was attached to the army's i ...
, the chief of operations in Jutland, immediately called an emergency meeting. Plans to assault the Gestapo headquarters were discussed but deemed unfeasible. Bennike finally sent a telegram to his contacts in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, The British evaluated the situation and on 26 October 1944 conducted a reconnaissance mission with 544 Squadron. Plans were drawn up and the date for the raid was set for 31 October 1944.


Planning

The attack was planned by members of the British
Special Operations Executive The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...
and the American Office of Strategic Services. They identified the raid as an especially challenging one because the main targets, the university dormitories in which Gestapo had their headquarters, had civilian hospitals nearby on both sides, so precision was needed to minimise civilian casualties. A training area in 1:1 scale was drawn with chalk, where the pilots picked for the attack made two test runs before the raid. It was eventually decided that the attack would take place in four waves, about one minute apart: the first waves would carry regular bombs to blast open the buildings containing the Gestapo offices, while the last waves would attack with incendiary bombs to maximise the damage to the Gestapo archives. The bombs were set to explode with a delay of eleven seconds since in such a low level attack, the bombs had the potential to damage the aircraft that dropped them. It was also decided that it would take place on a workday, between 11:30 a.m. and noon, since few Danish prisoners would be held in the offices at this time, as most of them would have been escorted back to their cells elsewhere on campus for lunch, while the majority of the Gestapo staff would be present and preparing for the lunch break at noon. Three squadrons were to supply 25 aircraft, 24 Mosquito Mk.VI fighter-bombers and a Mosquito Mk. IV reconnaissance aircraft from the
Royal Air Force Film Production Unit Royal Air Force Film Production Unit (typically abbreviated to the acronym RAFFPU) produced propaganda films depicting RAF personnel and aircraft both on the ground and in aerial action during World War II from 1941 to 1945. History The RAFFPU ...
, to film the raid. Twelve Mustang Mk. III fighters from 315 (Polish) Squadron would escort them, to defend the bombers from fighters based at the German airbase at Grove and create confusion by attacking minor German targets around central Jutland. All aircraft would carry extra fuel tanks to make sure they could make the long trip across the North Sea. The destination and target of the mission were not disclosed to the pilots until their final briefing at 8:00 a.m. on 31 October. On 30 October, the date and time for the raid was settled for the next day at 11:30 a.m. As a final preparation, the aircraft and crews involved in the raid gathered at the airbase at
Swanton Morley Swanton Morley is a village and civil parish situated in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated in the heart of Norfolk 18 miles from the centre of Norwich and three miles from Dereham, at the geographical centre of Norfolk. It covers an ...
at 8:00 a.m. on the day of the attack for a final briefing. When the fighters from 315 (Polish) Squadron landed, it was discovered that four of them had broken tailwheels, so it was decided to proceed with just the remaining eight. At 8:40 a.m., take off began in pairs and at 9:20 a.m., all thirty-three were in the air.


Bombing

The attack force entered Jutland around the coastal town of Henne around 11:20 a.m. and the Germans were alerted at 11:36 a.m. As planned, 315 Squadron broke off around Grove and 140 Wing continued on towards
Skanderborg Skanderborg is a town in Skanderborg municipality, Denmark. It is situated on the north and north eastern brinks of Skanderborg Lake and there are several smaller ponds and bodies of water within the city itself, like Lillesø, Sortesø, Døj S ...
. At 11:38 a.m., the first wave reached the rendezvous at Skanderborg Lake, followed shortly after by the other three waves. While the other waves circled the lake waiting their turn, the first wave broke off and reached Aarhus in about three minutes. The crews got a sighting of the dorms with the Gestapo offices and dropped of bombs. At 11:41 a.m., the first bombs exploded and four minutes later, they were followed by the second wave, then the third and fourth, attacking with incendiaries. The later waves were engaged by flak and a Mosquito from the fourth wave was severely damaged. Instead of returning to base, another Mosquito escorted it across the
Kattegat The Kattegat (; sv, Kattegatt ) is a sea area bounded by the Jutlandic peninsula in the west, the Danish Straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Skåne in Sweden ...
, where it continued on alone to Sweden, landed safely and was destroyed by the crew before they were apprehended by Swedish authorities. The rest of the aircraft exited Danish airspace in their designated waves between and about two hours later, they landed safely in England.


Aftermath

The Danish underground press estimated that 150–200 Gestapo members and some 30 Danes perished in the attack. An internal German report set their losses from the offices in the dormitories to 39, of whom 27 were SS officers employed in the Gestapo, including Eugen Schwitzgebel. The remaining twelve were from other departments of the German police, mostly office workers. Another 20 German casualties were reported from the Langelandsgade barracks, 18 being soldiers. Three prisoners from the Danish resistance were present for interrogation inside the dorms during the attack: Ruth Philipsen, the resistance leader Harald Sandbæk and a third prisoner. The third prisoner perished in the attack but Philipsen and Sandbæk managed to escape in the confusion. Philipsen got off relatively unscathed but Sandbæk was badly injured and had to receive medical treatment covertly whilst in hiding to recover from his wounds. Both of them reached the safety of Sweden soon thereafter. Though the bombing was precise, destroying Dorms 4 and 5 and doing considerable damage to the Langelandsgade barracks, several bombs missed. The university main building, which was being built at the time, was accidentally struck by a bomb that had somehow managed to skip down the halls of the building, killing about ten members of the construction crew and injuring the chief architect,
C. F. Møller Christian Frederik Møller (31 October 1898 – 5 November 1988), generally referred to as C. F. Møller, was a Danish architect, professor and, from 1965 to 1969, the first rector of the Aarhus School of Architecture. His former practice, Arki ...
. Most of the Gestapo archives, including many of the files on the Danish resistance, were destroyed in the attack; the extent of the damage remains unknown, though it is clear that the loss of files and experienced personnel severely hampered the Gestapo's efficiency in Denmark. The Gestapo reinforced their numbers in Denmark after the attack, to the point where the number of agents was almost doubled.


See also

*
Operation Carthage Operation Carthage, on 21 March 1945, was a British air raid on Copenhagen, Denmark during the Second World War which killed 145 civilians. The target of the raid was the , the Gestapo headquarters in the city centre. It was used for the sto ...
, a similar attack on Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark *
Operation Jericho Operation Jericho (Ramrod 564) took place on 18 February 1944 during the Second World War. Allied aircraft bombed Amiens Prison in German-occupied France at very low altitude to blow holes in the prison walls, kill German guards and use shock ...
, a similar attack on Amiens Prison in France *
Oslo Mosquito raid The Oslo Mosquito raid (25 September 1942) was a British air raid on Oslo, Norway, during the Second World War. The target of the raid was the '' Victoria Terrasse'' building, the headquarters of the Gestapo. It was intended to be a " morale bo ...
, a similar attack on Gestapo headquarters in Oslo, Norway


References

Bibliography * * * *


Further reading

*


External links


IWM Interview with RAF officer Edward Sismore, who participated in the raid
{{coord missing, Denmark History of Aarhus Denmark in World War II 1944 in Denmark Conflicts in 1944 Aerial operations and battles of World War II involving the United Kingdom History of the Royal Air Force during World War II De Havilland Mosquito Germany–United Kingdom military relations Denmark–United Kingdom military relations