‘I saw friends go down in flames during ops’
IT WAS dubbed “the last raid” – a vital gambit to prevent members of the Nazi elite and their fanatical SS guards from making a desperate last stand in Hitler’s Alpine headquarters.
But for RAF pilot Les Joy, the Berchtesgaden raid would also mark the tragic end of a personal journey – his last mission with the Australian crew he had grown to love before a tragic accident.
In the dying days of the war Bomber Command hatched one last operation.with US and UK troops advancing on Berlin from the west, and Soviet troops from the east, Allied command feared the inner core of Hitler’s Nazi party would congregate at Berchtesgaden, home not only to Hitler’s famous Eagle’s Nest, but a heavily fortified barracks and brimming with SS soldiers for whom the concept of surrender was anathema.
They had cause to worry. On March 21, 1945, Chief of the Air Staff General Karl Koller transferred elements of his staff to Berchtesgaden, and a document from Luftwaffe operations staff advocated the creation of a “final bulwark of fanatical resistance”.
An area 400 sq miles was to be sealed off after transferring military supplies and creating an industrial plant and airfield.
Berchtesgaden would be its nerve centre. Allied command was certain of two things: any advantage they may have with air superiority would be lost in the mountains and attempts to seize control from the ground would risk significant losses.
So it was that on April 25, 359
Lancasters from 22 squadrons – including the 617 Dambusters – were sent to obliterate it. The mission boasted 2,529 crewmen from England, Australia, Canada, Rhodesia and Poland. Berchtesgaden was the last combat raid.
“We were told there were top Nazis in the target area and possibly Adolf Hitler himself. It’s not every day you get told you’re being sent on a special mission that might take out Hitler.” Though he was advised to retreat to his Eagle’s Nest, Hitler had already decided to stay in Berlin.
Les said: “Hitler wasn’t there but we bombed an important place he could have run to – and nearly got Goring.”
In July, Les was granted leave and flew home for a few days with his wife, Elsie. It was then, the war won, that tragedy struck during a bombing exercise on the Lincolnshire coast.a practice bomb had exploded in the bomb bay. The Lancaster caught fire, killing four of six crew members.
He said: “It was the most awful end to our crew. It was very traumatic. Remembrance is vital. Every branch of service has lost many good people. Some friends from my squadron I saw going down in flames during ops. We must remember them.”
Both Les and Frank were interviewed by historian Gary Bridson-daley for the second edition of his new book A Debt Of Gratitude To The Last Heroes (History Press) out now, £12.99