Radio messages

Have tried these but need to keep trying.

Info. to date, abridged version, more details available.

Warrant Officer (Sgt) Kenneth Fenton – Service. No. 1053472, Prisoner No. 39204

1st July 1941, five Blenheims left Horsham St. Faith, lead by Squadron Leader Sidney Smith at 08.48 on a daylight raid. This was part of two sticks, the first on a bombing raid on shipping at Keil and the second stick including Kenneth Fenton to Oldenburg Power Station.

Bristol Blenheim IV XD-‘L’ for Leather, V6258 Piloted by Sgt Kenneth Fenton (Service No. 1053472) of 139 (Jamaica) squadron of 2 Group, Bomber Command left from Horsham St. Faith, Norfolk at 08.48 hours, with Observer A A Fuller and Wireless operator/Air Gunner R W MacDonald, on course to bomb Oldenburg, Germany together with four other Blenheim’s of the same squadron.

Ken Fenton’s crew consisted off:-

Observer: Sgt Alan Andrew Fuller, (Meteorologist, home address ‘Toowong’, Church Road, Lingfield, Surrey. Service No. 948385, joined Cardington. DOB 21st November 1920
Wireless operator R (Robbie) W McDonald (Service No. 1250068, joined Uxbridge,
/Airgunner Gloucester or Penarth ……….DOB

1 Aircraft bombed target with 4x250lb from 1000ft. 2 Fell towards railway station which was clearly seen. Also dropped bombs on centre of town of Verel. Results unobserved due (to) regaining cloud cover.
1 Aircraft bombed marshalling yards 3 miles south of target which was hit from 450ft with 4/250lb and 4/25lb I.B.s. Results were not observed but crew confidant bombs fell on yards.
1 Aircraft bomber (1) village 4 miles south-south-east of target, (2) south-east corner of target (3) machine gunned barges and houses along canal south of target and (4) machine gunned driver of excavator digging ditches in Zwisghenahn area, from (1) 800ft, 4/25lb bombs (2) 1000ft, 4/250lb bombs (3) 50ft and (4) 50ft.! and 2 not observed but certain of hits.
1 Aircraft bombed marshalling yards south of target from 1000ft with 4/250lb and 4/25lb. Smoke seen to rise for 200yards, 150ft high in yards, and on track near sheds.

All aircraft appear to have bombed the target and returned between 12.48 Hours and 13.21 Hours. Sgt. Fenton and crew on raid J D O 420 were listed as ‘Failed to return’.

At about 14.00???? hours on 1st July 1941 Bristol Blenheim ‘L’ for Leather V6258 reported in that they had been damaged over Oldenburg near Bremen and were going to ditch in the North Sea, North-West of Terscheling Island. The aircraft indented twice, but nothing further was heard or seen.

At 12.26 Hours, the damaged Blenheim, ‘L’ for Leather, was attacked by a Messershmitt Bf 109F piloted by Fw (Feldwebel or Sgt) Fredriech-Karl Bachmann of 3/JG 52 based at Leeuwarden, Holland and Sgt. Kenneth Fenton successfully managed to ditch the Blenheim at 12.48, 60 Kms. North-West of Vlieland in the Dutch Frisian Islands in the North Sea at position 4435. Reported by Theo Boiten as being ‘among one of a very few crews to survive a Blenheim crash in 1941’ Member of the Goldfish Club, having ditched and used their dinghy to effect a rescue.

The dinghy was spotted by 3 Short Stirling 1’s from 7 Squadron. N6013 MG-A piloted by F/O John Kinnane, N6005 MG-G piloted by F/O D T Witt and N3655 MG-? Piloted by Sgt. B K Madgwick returning from a daylight attack on Emden and Aurich. They had experienced lack of cloud cover over the target and bombed Borkum seaplane base as an alternative on their return. F/O Kinnane, having been the first to see the three Blenheim crew members continued to orbit the dinghy trying to get a fix for the rescue operation. Two aircraft returned but Kinnane’s aircraft stayed and continued to shadow the dinghy.

At 14.00??? Hours this call was received in England, followed half an hour later by a second message that F/O Kinnane’s aircraft was attacked by 2 aircraft. This was also witnessed by the returning Stirling’s who observed this attack at 15.11 hours.

The complete crew of the Stirling died and the bodies of F/O Kinnane, Sgt Taylor and F/Sgt Nicholls washed ashore onto the Danish cost between 11th July and 18th August 1941. The others are still listed as missing in action, bodies never found, commemorated on the panels of the Runnymede Memorial.

The situation was reported in and HSL 108 (High Speed Launch) left Gorleston, Norfolk, clearing the harbour bar at 16.00 hours.

As the rescue launch had to travel at least 250 km, 4 Blenheim’s of 248 Squadron, 16 Group, Coastal Command were also despatched to position ZKXU 3400 from RAF Bircham Newton to co-operate and provide escort to the HSL and cover for the dinghy. The weather was reported as ‘Fine during the afternoon becoming cloudy again at 19.00 Hours. Visibility: Moderate to good. Wind: Light and variable.

The Blenheim crew was eventually rescued by a Heinkel He.59 DB-MV Wnr 1829 seaplane from 4 Seenotflugkommandos based at Nordeney taking them to the Air-Sea Rescue base at Schellingwoude, North of Amsterdam. DB-MV was piloted by Fw Unterspann with crewmembers Uffz Barwitzki, Flieger Fischer and Flieger Rhase.

Similarly, the HSL crew, were captured with the loss of one crew member, and spent the remainder of the war as POW’s.

I have a lot more detail.

Regards,

Nick

Nick, two things

1> Have you tried The Air Historical Branch at RAF Bentley Priory for details and
2> The Archivist at The RAF Museum Hendon

It would help matters if you gave his Number/Rank/Name/Initials, his squadron and the index number of his aircraft. Also RAF Innsworth will hold your fathers RAF Record there may be something on his personal file or even his medical record. As Next of Kin that person is entitled to that information if it is still to be found and as a last resort you could always ask for that info under The DPA 1998 or the FoIA 2000

Either way, best of luck

Nick,
Where a/c were engaged in German radar/radio frequency/type investigations (or “Y” Service activities) then the original air-to-ground H/F W/T signals are unlikely to have survived. They would probably have been burnt at the receiving station after a period of time. However, where the information sent back was of extreme importance then it is possible that the signals may, subsequently, have been teleprinted from the receiving station(s) to some other analysis centre. Some of these teleprinter page-copies might have survived. R V Jones in “Most Secret War” make several mentions of receiving such signals in London – these were unlikely to have been directly received from the a/c.
HTH
Resmoroh

I have found written transmissions of intercepted German radio communicacation at Kew which you can only interpret their intended ‘targets’ as they were obviously guarded in what they were saying but have yet to find any referance to morse messages from aircraft.

When my Father was shot down, some of the comments made are that he ‘indented twice’ but l can find no referance to this in the Squadron or Station ORB’s or any of the historical information available. I am trying to find out where this came from and also trying to find out info. on the situation leading up to my Father’s ditching and subsequent capture.

Any help would be really useful.

Regards,

Nick

Im a former RSI and Im intrigued that there would be any record of operational cyphered morse transmissions, in those days, under those circumstances I didnt think it was possible. However, Im not sure about the RAF side of things, but would the Royal SIgnals Museum be worth a call to start with? I may be wrong here just thinking aloud. Bex

Can you illuminate a little?

Are you suggesting that there are recordings stored of all ‘radio’ traffic from WW2, or that they exist as transcripts?

Don’t forget the bulk of comms, air to ground, was morse, not spoken voice.

Moggy