Mosquito raid Amsterdam

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Member for

15 years 1 month

Posts: 110

I remembered the other day a story told by my father.
He was living in Amsterdam during the war and told me about an attack on the Gestapo headquarters in Amsterdam. He recalled how a lone Mosquito came streaking in over the rooftops of the centre of Amsterdam and managed to drop bomb(s) directly on this building. He always claimed that the navigator must have been a native of Amsterdam. he passed away a few years ago but I would be interested if anyone knows if there was a Dutch crewmember. My opinion is that as this took place towards the end of the war, RAF crews were so well trained/briefed that the could find the proverbial neeldle...

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Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 16,832

Other than the superimposed engine sounds you might find this enjoyable.

http://195.231.246.70/agent/style/besat/Default.aspx?22691

The Gestapo in Denmark had hit the resistance on the island of Sjælland heavily and the Danish underground movement asked the SOE to have the Gestapo headquarter in København bombed to have the Gestapo files on the resistance workers destroyed.

A major problem was that the Gestapo held a number of resistance workers in prison on the top floor of the Shell house building.

It was decided to send 18 Mosquito bombers and two photo planes to København with an escort of 28 Mustangs. The attack itself was a success. The Headquarter was more or less destroyed.

On April 1st 1945 a German report states that 20 men and 8 women working for the Gestapo as well as two Wehrmacht soldiers had been killed and 26 men and 24 women were missing. 14 men and 16 women were severely wounded while 34 persons were lightly wounded. There were 26 resistance workers in the building during the attack, 18 of who survived. Of these some managed to escape and some were transferred to Vestre Fængsel prison after the attack.

A catastrophe however happened when a Mosquito crashed in the nearby French School. Some other Mosquito’s dropped their bomb load on the crashed aircraft believing that the fire and smoke came from the Shell house. 123 civilian died, 87 of who were children.

Three Mosquito’s and two Mustangs were lost.

As for Amsterdam? I can find many references to raids on Amsterdam, but none that were specifically related to Gestapo buildings. Others may know better.

Moggy

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20 years

Posts: 5,575

I believe No. 487 (NZ) Squadron took part in that raid. Although i may be confusing this with the raid they did on the Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen.

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14 years 10 months

Posts: 174

There were many precision attacks (well, as precise as possible at low level) on Gestapo HQ in Denmark, Aarhus, Copenhagen etc, plus Amiens jail. Also Phillips in Eindhoven, so it's possible that stories might get confused in the retelling, especially during wartime with restrictions. There was a German airbase there, so that may have been a frequent target, especially towards the end of the War.
I haven't any specific info on any attacks specifically targetting a Gestapo HQ in Amsterdam, but Netherland crews did serve in the RAF and other Services, no doubt "local knowledge" would be available, even if not actually flying in the attack.

Member for

18 years 1 month

Posts: 286

I also don't recall a reference to Amsterdam, though I do know Mossies hit the Gestapo in The Hague. The classic "Soldaat van Oranje" (sorry if the spelling is wrong) tells the tale of a Dutch military man who ended up on Mosquitos, though he doesn't describe any raids on Dutch territory.

Edit - There was also this one: "26 Nov 44 Raid by 24 RAF Typhoons on the Sicherheitsdienst HQ (closely affiliated to the Gestapo) in Amsterdam, destroying records on the Dutch resistance movement."

Member for

15 years 1 month

Posts: 110

Thanks for the info.
As my father was in his early teens during the war, he might not been quite up to speed on RAF recognition shillouettes. Your remarks are highy appriciated.

Member for

16 years 2 months

Posts: 2,841

Mossie raid - Copenhagen.

I met a Danish lady a couple of months ago who was a teenage girl, working in the building right next door to the Gestapo headquarters, at the time of the raid.

She said they watched the Mosquitos streaking past right outside the windows and remembers the vivid colours of the roundels and code letters against the camouflage on the aircraft. They were ordered to lie down flat and then proceeded to crawl to the basement where they remained for several hours until told they could come out.

There can't be many people around now who were there at that time and remember it that clearly - certainly not in the UK.

Anon.

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20 years 1 month

Posts: 177

Attack on the Euterpestraat

for those interested: the headquarters of the Gestapo in Amsterdam were in the Euterpestraat (nowadays named Gerrit van de Veenstraat, after a Dutch resistance hero)
Photos of the results of the Mossie raid:

http://beeldbank.amsterdam.nl/index.php?option=com_result&Itemid=9&qasked=1&qtype=nieuw&gn=2716134&view=1

Greetz
Aerovet

Member for

20 years 1 month

Posts: 177

Typhoons !!!

Diving deeper into the matter, the Dutch book "En nooit was het stil" edited by the Hist Section of the R.Neth AF, gives the clue.

The attack on 26/11/44 was performed by Typhoons of No 146 Wing, led by Group Capt Gillam, followed by those of No263 sq.

Aerovet

Member for

15 years 1 month

Posts: 110

Pity that my father never lived to see this digital age!