Leslie Manser VC. (cont).
| The following appears to be some pages from an auction catalogue. I am unable to give an attribution, but I suspect that it came from Spinks.
PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN
Lot 301 The 'Thousand Bomber' Raid Victoria Cross Awarded Posthumously to Flying Officer L. T. Manser, Royal Air Force, reverse of suspension bar inscribed "Flying Officer L. T. Manser. R.A.F. No 50. Squadron", reverse of Cross inscribed "21st October 1942" with original bronze riband brooch bar, nearly extremely fine, 22 Victoria Crosses awarded to Members of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.
Flying Officer Leslie Thomas Manser, V.C. (1922-1942) brother-in-law of Captain J. N. Randle V. C., was born in New Delhi, India during the period of his father's employment as an engineer with the Post and Telegraph Department and, when the family returned to England, they settled in Radlett, Hertfordshire. Young Manser, educated at St. Faith's, Cambridge and Cox's House Aldenham, Hertfordshire, completed his studies and decided to join the Armed Forces. His attempts to enlist in the Army and then the Royal Navy were both unsuccessful, however he was accepted as a prospective pilot by the Royal Air Force in August 1940, After his initial flying training, Manser was commissioned Pilot Officer in May 1941; after a navigational course at Cranage and final operational training at 14 OTU, Cottesmore, he was posted to his first operational unit, No. 50 Squadron (Hampdens) at Swinderby, Lincolnshire and joined them on 27 August. Fully Operational Two days after joining his squadron Manser experienced his first baptism of fire; as second pilot, he took part in a bombing raid on Frankfurt, the first 100 plus aircraft operation against that city. During the following two months he flew six more sorties including those against Berlin, Hamburg and Karlsruhe before being posted to 25 OTU, Finningly on 7 November and a month later on 9 December he was posted back to 14 OTU as an instructor. Captain of Aircraft Manser served briefly with No. 420 (R.C.A.F.) Squadron (Hampdens) from 21 March 1942 until 3 April when he rejoined 50 Squadron then operating from Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire and in the process of converting to the new Manchester heavy bomber. He piloted one of the new aircraft during a leaflet drop over Paris, 8 April and flew a further five sorties during April and May - his skill and competence as a Captain of Aircraft was not unnoticed; Manser was promoted to Flying Officer on 6 May - just five days before his 20th birthday.
Early in 1942 the fortunes of Bomber Command were perhaps at their lowest ebb - less than one bomb in ten was falling within five miles of any notable target, almost five per cent of aircraft despatched were lost on most major operations. Behind the scenes Whitehall was pressing for the transfer of the bomber to a tactical and more supportive role. The success of the raids against the two Hanse towns Rostock and Lubeck during March and April was skilfully publicised by the new leader of the Force, Air Marshal Sir Arthur Harris, not only to raise morale but also to promote his policies; although these targets revealed the awesome potential power of the long range heavy bomber, Harris still needed an impressive victory against a major German target. It was in this atmosphere of uncertainty and doubt over the future of his Command that Harris conceived his brilliant idea of "The Thousand Plan" codenamed 'Operation Millennium' - 1,000 British bombers, the greatest concentration of airpower in history would attack a major German city in a single night. Winston Churchill and Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Charles Portal were both impressed with the idea and gave Harris their full support and the go - ahead to implement his plan and to muster the enormous force required. Maximum Effort The number of aircraft required for the operation was more than double the strength of Bomber Command's front line operational squadrons - these were bought up to 'maximum effort' - Coastal Command offered to provide 250 bombers, whilst aircraft from 91 and 92 Operational Training Groups were also mobilised; many of these were crewed by instructors, mainly ex - operational types and partly trained pupils. A number of aircraft and crews from the conversion units attached to the various Groups were also brought in. Almost at the end of this most remarkable logistic achievement, Harris was compelled to redouble his efforts for more bomber aircraft and crews - the Admiralty refused to allow Coastal Command's aircraft to be diverted to the operation. Every available crew member and any spare airworthy bomber was made available for the 'Big Show'. Once again the Operational Training Units supplied most of the aircraft and crews - this time the trainees were literally plucked from the bottom half of their courses. All Squadrons to Readiness Orders for the operation were finalised on 26 May, all aircraft were to be at their allotted position by then. The provisional date for the attack was set for the night of the 27/28, target - Bremen. However, unfavourable weather conditions three days running made the first choice of target unsuitable. At midday on the 30th May, 1942 Harris issued the order to strike that night against his second choice of target, the third largest city in Germany, Cologne. All squadrons were brought to readiness.
On 52 airfields, mainly in the Eastern Counties, the armada of medium to heavy bombers was about to be despatched - 708 veteran Whitleys, Wellingtons and Hampdens in company with 338 of the new Stirlings, Halifaxes, Manchesters and Lancasters made up the force of 1,046 aircraft - 367 of the total came from the various Training Groups. These figures do not include the 49 Blenheims and seven Havocs employed as Intruders to assist the bomber force by attacking night fighter airfields along the route. The assault, planned to last 90 minutes, would be made in three waves led by the Wellingtons of 3 Group, the second wave by Stirlings and the last wave by the Manchesters and Lancasters of 5 Group. In the first fifteen minutes the attack would be carried out by all aircraft of Nos 1 and 3 Groups equipped with Gee - a radio aid which enabled crews to navigate within precise limits and thus to illuminate the target. Manser's Last Operation On the morning of 30 May, Flying Officer Manser and another pilot from his squadron were instructed to collect two Manchesters from 106 Squadron, Coningsby, get them back to Skellingthorpe and to stand by for possible inclusion in the forthcoming 'big show'. Manser's aircraft, probably used for training purposes, had a grubby interior, no mid?upper turret and a permanently secured rear escape hatch; however it passed its air test and that was all that mattered - Manser and his crew were included on the evening's operational menu. Manchester bomber L7301 'D' Dog with Manser at the controls became airborne at 22.50 hours. Although the aircraft had behaved well during the air test, Manser found that now with a full bomb load of incendiaries (no high - explosive), he was unable to coax the Manchester beyond a ceiling of 7,000 feet without the engines overheating - he decided to continue his mission and expressed the view that they might avoid the heavy flak that would concentrate on the main bomber stream at the far higher altitude. An hour and a half later they approached Cologne, identified by the intense red glow in the sky ahead from the fires which were consuming the city from end to end - Manser began his bombing run in. The aircraft was quickly 'coned' by about ten searchlights and was subjected to heavy anti - aircraft fire but Manser decided against evasive action and held the bomber straight and level on the approach to the aiming point - Flying Officer 'Bang On' Barnes (Navigator / Bomb Aimer) made his delivery at 7,000 feet. Manser turned away to make more height but almost simultaneously 'D' Dog shuddered and jolted from the effects of a direct hit - Manser dived down to 800 feet in an effort to avoid the flak and searchlights and after flying into a curtain of 20 mm. cannon tracer fire which registered a number of hits on the bomber, they escaped into the welcome darkness, the fuselage full of fire and acrid smoke. Checking for damage, Sergeant Baveystock (2nd Pilot) and Pilot Officer Horsley (Wireless Operator) found the rear of the bomb bay doors had been blown off by the flak but thankfully there were no hang-ups, all the bombs had gone - - Sergeant Naylor (Rear Gunner) was wounded by shell splinters. The damage being somewhat less than anticipated Manser nursed the hardly controllable aircraft up to 2,000 feet where the port engine exploded into flame which spread along the whole width of the wing and threatened to explode a main 600 gallon tank. After ordering Baveystock to feather the propeller and operate the internal extinguisher Manser cooly waited for 10 minutes until the flames subsided and went out - the composure and quiet determination of this young pilot amazed and inspired his whole crew. The reverse of Flying Officer Manser's Victoria Cross "Greater Love Hath no Man . . ." The Manchester's airspeed, now approaching 110 knots, was critically near to stalling - Manser gave the order to bale out immediately. Horsley assisted Naylor to the fuselage door, Baveystock went forward to help his Captain and Barnes joined Mills at the front hatch. Manser knew that if he left his position the aircraft would dive straight into the ground - he battled with the controls, holding the bomber as level as possible to enable his crew to exit - half a minute would do it. Baveystock attempted to clip a parachute on to his Skipper's chest - Manser pushed him away and shouted to him "For God's sake get out we're going down". Crawling to the front hatch with the Manchester vibrating violently and on the point of stalling Baveystock, not realising the aircraft had almost descended to tree top level, doubled up and dropped out of the open hatch. Unable to deploy his parachute Baveystock landed in five feet of dyke water which cushioned his fall and saved his life the bomber crashed into the earth some 100 yards beyond the dyke and burst into flames. Leslie Manser had sacrificed his life by remaining at the controls of his aircraft in the knowledge that to do otherwise would have resulted in the almost certain death of his crew. The Manchester crashed about three miles east of the Belgian village of Bree, near the Dutch border and quickly burned out; Barnes, injured during his parachute descent, was captured by the Germans; Baveystock, Naylor, Mills, Horsley and King evaded capture, were hidden by the local resistance and 48 hours later were secreted in Liege. They were passed along the 'Comet' escape line through Brussels, Paris and St. Jean de Luz, taken over the Pyrenees to St. Sebastian and finally to Gibraltar - one week later they were flown home to England. Details of Leslie Manser's courage and self-sacrifice emerged from the interrogation of the crew which led directly to the posthumous award of the Victoria Cross. On 20 September 1942, P/Off. Barnes, P/Off. Horsley, Sergeants Baveystock, Mills and Naylor all received immediate awards of the Distinguished Flying Cross or Distinguished Flying Medal. Epilogue Of the 1046 aircraft of Bomber Command despatched to Cologne on the night of 30/31 April 1942 to implement 'Operation Millennium' - a total of 989 crews claimed to have reached and to have attacked the target. 1,455 tons of bombs were dropped during the raid of which nearly two - thirds were incendiaries (Royal Air Force Official History refers) Between 0047 hours when the first bombs fell and 0225 hours when the last went down, over 600 acres of the built up area of Cologne had been completely destroyed - almost as much as all the previous devastation in all the towns of Germany. Approximately 250 factories appeared to have been destroyed or damaged. German records confirmed the complete destruction of 18,432 houses, flats, workshops and public buildings; 9,516 similar structures were badly damaged and 31,070 damaged less severely; 17 water mains, 5 gas mains, 32 main electricity cables and 12 main telephone routes were severely damaged; railway repair shops employing 2,500 people were obliterated; 36 post offices including three telephone exchanges were destroyed or damaged and 328 industrial plants, half the city's number, suffered in varying degrees - it was stated that the loss in the larger factories would amount to between three and nine months production. The large number of incendiary bombs dropped on the city were mainly responsible for some 12,000 fires of which 2,500 were major outbreaks. Forty - one aircraft of Bomber Command failed to return from the raid which exceeded the loss for any previous operation; it was estimated that 22 of that number were lost over or near Cologne 16 were shot down by flak, four by night fighters, two collided. Later calculations disclosed that casualties suffered by the operational training crews were lower than those of the regular bomber groups. Arthur Harris organised two more 'Thousand Force' raids before he found it logistically necessary to discontinue them. The first raid after Cologne was made against Emden, 1/2 June 1942, when 956 aircraft were despatched; experienced crews had difficulty in locating the target due to haze or a thick layer of low cloud - the bombing was haphazard. Bremen, the last 'Thousand Raid' target, was completely obscured by cloud for the whole period of the raid. Limited success in some areas of the city was entirely due to the use of Gee which enabled the leading crews to bomb accurately and start fires on which a number of succeeding crews homed in. The number of aircraft despatched on the Bremen raid totalled 1,067 including 960 from Bomber Command, of the latter only 696 claimed attacks on the city. The Cologne '1,000 Bomber' raid was not only a major step towards the defeat of Germany but also provided much needed boost in morale for Bomber Command and for the British public weary of a long series of reversals. In just four months since his appointment as Commander - in - Chief on 22 February 1942, Air Marshal Sir Arthur Harris established his own reputation and confirmed his Command as a force majeur for the remainder of the war. Harris has since joined the circle of Haig, Montgomery, Patton, MacArthur and other Military and Naval figures who have in the wisdom of hindsight been subjected to historical and political examination.
£50,000 - 60,000
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