Strana 13
Attack of 205. Group RAF
at the Shell refinery, Budapest
In 1944, the 205th Group of the British Royal
Air Force was included in the subordination
of MASAF (Mediterranean Allied Strategic
Air Force). As part of the British Bomber
Command since its formation in 1941, it has
been instrumental in destroying Rommel‘s
supply lines by bombing the ports of Tripoli,
Benghazi and Bizerte on the African continent.
Its squadron, mostly armed with Wellington
bombers of various versions, operated from
the Egyptian base of Kabrit and Shallufa.
After Rommel‘s troops were expelled from
North Africa, the squadrons of the 205th RAF
Group moved to Tunis. During the months of
May and June 1943, they supported the Allied
landings in Sicily and Italy by night bombing
from the Kairouan base.
After a successful invasion and the transfer
of Allied air activity to air bases in Italy,
during the winter, spring and summer of 1944,
the 205th Group gradually came under the
command of the US 15th Air Force. It thus
became the only RAF unit in the history of
the British Royal Air Force to fall under the
operational control of another country. We
must also mention at this point that in the RAF
system, the Group was a higher organizational
unit than the Wing - unlike the US Air Force.
Following the liberation of southern Italy
and the establishment of an air base in the
Foggia area, units under the 205th RAF Group
have relocated to their new locations:
- 231. Wing was deployed at the base of
Tortorella. It consisted of the 37th and 70th
Squadron, which were armed with Wellington
B.Mk.X bombers;
- 236. Wing was deployed at the base of
Foggia and consisted of 40th and 104th
Squadron. Wellington B.Mk.X aircraft were
also in service;
- 240th Wing operated from the base of
Amendola and consisted of the 178th Squadron,
which was armed with Liberator B.Mk.VI and
614th Squadron, which operated on the British
bombers Handley Page Halifax B.Mk.II. At the
end of June, the South African 31st Squadron,
which had Liberator B.Mk.VI bombers, was
temporarily active within the 240th Wing;
- 330. Wing was deployed at Regina Base. His
two subordinate 142nd and 150th Squadron
were both in service again using bomber
Vickers Wellington B.Mk.X.
Another Wing was created in July. The 2nd
SAAF (South African Air Force) Wing was
deployed at Celone Airport and consisted of
the 31st and 34th Squadrons, both armed with
Liberator aircraft.
The most important task of the 205th RAF
Group in 1944 was the mining of the Danube
under the code name „Operation Gardening“.
However, in the spring and summer of 1944,
the bombers also targeted the supply points of
enemy units such as ports, marshalling yards
and bridges, as well as refineries and fuel
depots. Crews attacked targets in northern
Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Yugoslavia, Hungary
and Austria.
On the night of June 25-26, 1944, the 205th
Group bombers were tasked with attacking the
Shell Koolaz refinery in the Csepel district of
Budapest. Let us make one remark here. The
name Koolaz is taken from the Hungarian
word from the word Kőolaj, which, however,
does not mean anything other than crude oil
in translation, and therefore the name would
sound correct to Shell‘s crude oil refinery,
Budapest. Shell began construction of
a refinery in Csepel in 1929. Plans were
provided by Dutch engineers, but the
equipment came from Hungary. The refinery
was put into production in 1930. Shell also
added a warehouse with tanks for oil products,
unloading and workshops to the refinery. Until
the mid-1930s, the refinery produced a quarter
of Hungarian oil production. But let‘s go back to
the events of 1944.
From the Italian bases, 75 Wellingtons
belonging to the 231st, 236th and 330th
Wing, 21 Liberators of the 240th Wing and
six Halifaxes of the 614th Squadron took off.
The crews of one Wellington, one Liberator
and two Halifaxes had to return prematurely.
HISTORY
Airmen from the crews of the 37th Squadron leave the combat mission after returning tired
to report to the intelligence officer.
Aerial view and situational drawing of the Csepel peninsula on the Danube in Budapest, where several oil processing facilities were located next to each other.
[Foto: USAAF a Janos Lazanyi]
INFO Eduard
13
October 2024