Hello
I make some researches about a mission of SOE. On february the 8th 1944, the Halifax LL114 (NF-P from 138 sqn) took off from Tempsford for a parachuting mission (arms, material and … 2 bikes) in France. The pilot was F/O Gerald Dennis Carroll. The mission name seems be « John 35 ». This Halifax crashed in the Alps, at Autrans. The plane was discovered by French resistance of this area, but they were waitting no RAF’s operation. So, I search the final destination of this SOE mission. is there somebody have an idea how can I have information about that ?
Thank you
Fabrice
By: N.Wotherspoon - 17th October 2017 at 20:58
Set of photos of crash site of LL114: https://flic.kr/s/aHsjxASmzv
On the night of 7th to 8th February 1944, Halifax LL 114, coded NF-P of 138 (Special Duties) Squadron took of from its base at RAF Tempsford in Bedfordshire. This Squadron was was tasked with dropping agents and equipment of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) inside occupied territory. The aircraft was to undertake a mission to drop supplies to the French Resistance at the Drop Zone (DZ) codenamed “JOHN 35” – to date it is not known exactly where this DZ was as it does not appear in any records, though DZ “JOHN 33” and “JOHN 34” are in Saone et Loire Department some 200 Km to the North-East.
Though we don’t know the location of the DZ the aircraft was trying to locate, it is certain that none of the Resistance on the Vercors that night were expecting LL 114, when it was heard passing low over the village of Autrans in thick fog and during a snow storm. It was five days later when members of the local Resistance found the partially burnt out wreck, in the forest 8 kilometers North of the village, with weapons and ammunition scattered around and still containing the bodies of the crew, who had all been killed instantly in the impact with a cliff face at the end of the valley. They were unable to identify the bodies and buried them close to the crash site and salvaged what they could and hid the site so well that it was never located by the Germans.
In August 1944 the bodies of the crew were recovered, identified and re-interred in the cemetery at Autrans, where their graves remain today. Substantial sections of the wrecked Halifax lay in the forest for several years after the war, only occasionally visited by the curious. However, in the late 1950s the wreck came to the attention of a group of travelling scrap dealers, who spent a summer cutting it up and transporting it down the steep forest trails, only leaving the steel parts and many scattered fragments at the crash site. Some of these remains including a couple of propeller hubs and several parachute supply containers remained gathered at the bottom of the cliff below the impact point and in 2004 the memorial was erected – though the accompanying information board shows the aircraft as being a Lancaster! A few parts can also be seen in the Resistance museum at Vassieux-en-Vercors.
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By: Arabella-Cox - 17th October 2017 at 12:23
Hi Fabrice,
My father flew for 161 squadron and I got in contact with a gentleman called Bob Body who runs the Tempsford Vetrans and relatives association. He managed to get dtails of all the mission my father flew. You should be able to make contact through this website: www.tempsford-squadrons.info/
Chris
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October 16, 2017 at 8:30 pm