British Forces

27/5/44

427 Squadron Association

Weather: Cloudy, very occasional slight rain. Good visibility. -x -x The happy news of operations was received this morning and all sections swung into the task of putting out the record number of eighteen aircraft. It was wondered whether such a large number could be given, but as the day rolled on, it was discovered that this was "duck soup" for a "bang on" Squadron like this. Everyone pulled their weight and it was wonderful to see the great enthusiasm shown in making this record which was a tribute to both ground and aircrews of the squadron. -x -x At take-off, although fingers were crossed, eighteen aircraft soared into the air to deliver their respective bundles of joy to the enemy and it was indeed an impressive sight. The target for the night was BOURG-LEOPOLD and it is felt that the name would be all that remained of the place when our boys got finished. -x -x The returning crews were just as enthusiastic about the operation's success end reported the bombing was very concentrated and P.F.F. good. Although the visibility was only moderate, all crews praised the work of the Master of Ceremonies who did a marvellous job of directing the aircraft and pointing out the target. Ground defences were negligible but numerous fighter actions were seen and believed to be very intense. The only thing that detracted from the complete success of this operation was in our losing two good crews, namely, J.19588 P/0 B.C. SCOBIE who had carried out nine raids with us, and J.19592 P/0 F.G. DEVERAUX: who had 10 raids to his credit. The remaining sixteen aircraft returned safely to this country and landed away from base. -x -x A record day indeed in the life of the "LION" Squadron. Bourg-Leopold or known today as Leopoldsburg is a military base for decades.Now the activities have been reduced by our government for cost reductions.Untill the 90ties it was known for it's Leopard Belgian Tank division.Our tanks have been replaced by new APC's etc. At the time of the raids it was rather known under the name of Beverloo Camp.In 1943/1944 it was the place of the training grounds of the 12. SS-Panzer-Division 'Hitlerjugend' .I have posted that story some time back.Beverloo being the biggest military training ground in Belgium at the time ,so it was an important target in the runup for the Normandy landings. greetz,brummbar