Post by fwx on Jul 24, 2012 10:52:27 GMT 12
From Errol's research, in response to a request from his son brucehooper, but now buried in another thread:
From Colin Hanson’s By Such Deeds - Honours and Awards in the Royal New Zealand Air Force, 1923-1999:
HOOPER, Flying Officer Herbert Wilfred, DFC.
NZ40111; Born Kaponga, 21 Jun 1914; RNZAF 5 Jan 1940 to 30 Jan 1946; Pilot.
Citation Distinguished Flying Cross (7 Dec 1945): [75(NZ)Sqn RAF (Lancaster)] Flying Officer Hooper, as Pilot, has completed numerous operations against the enemy, in the course of which he has invariably displayed the utmost fortitude, courage and devotion to duty.
Flt Lt Hooper joined the RNZAF as an armourer and after initial ground training in NZ he embarked for the UK and was posted to 26 Sqn RAF (Lysander) in Sep 1940. On 1 Mar 1941 he joined 485 Sqn RNZAF (Spitfire) on its formation, serving with them until posted for aircrew training; pre-war he had flown as a pilot with the Hawera Aero Club. On completion of his pilot training in Canada and England he joined 75(NZ)Sqn at Mepal in Dec 1944. He completed one tour of 33 sorties to the following targets - Osterfeld(2), Witten, Siegen, Trier(2), Dresden, Rheydt(2), Cologne(2), Heligoland minelaying(2), Wesel(3), Vohwinkel, Nuremberg, Ludwigshafen, Neuss, Sterkrade, Kiel, Essen, Wiesbaden, Hohenbudberg, Chemnitz, Kamen, Gelsenkirchen, Datteln, Dortmund, Hamm, The Hague (leaflets) and Hallendorf. An uncle, Wg Cdr W E Hooper AFC, served with the RAF from 1930, while a cousin Sgt P J Hooper RNZAF (pilot) was kao over Europe on 24 Jul 1942.
Bruce, if you are still visiting WONZ, and in case you haven't seen it yet, I have just come across this in Wikipedia's entry for 75 Sq:
"An unusual sortie for 75 Squadron was the high altitude run over The Hague in March 1945 by a lone Lancaster piloted by Flight Lieutenant H W Hooper. He dropped thousands of leaflets containing an apology from the British government for the earlier Allied bombing of the city which had been an error."
The error apparently took place on 3 March 1945, when the RAF accidentally bombed the Bezuidenhout neighbourhood in the Dutch city of The Hague, which was overcrowded with war evacuees.
"The British bomber crews had intended to bomb the Haagse Bos where the Germans had installed V-2 launching facilities that had been used to attack English cities. But the pilots were issued with the wrong coordinates so the meteorological instruments of the bombers had been set incorrectly, and fog and clouds obscured their vision. The bombs were instead dropped on the Bezuidenhout residential neighbourhood."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_the_Bezuidenhout
There is an entry in the 75 Sq ORB for 25 March 1945, up 20.40, down 23.21:
"One aircraft was detailed for a nickeling raid on the Hague, carrying 12 x 350 Munroes. The operation was successful and uneventful."
Lancaster III PB424, "O"
F/L Hooper, H, Pilot
Sgt Lane, K, Nav
F/S Holt, E , A/B
W/O Gordon, A, WO/AIR
Sgt Palmer, J, F/Eng
Sgt Sturrock, P, M/U/Gnr
Sgt Spiby, J, R/Gnr
Bomb load 12 x 350 Munroe (Type H.10)
Primary target - The Hague (Scheveningen)
Consider dropped accurately on centre of target.
Cheers, Chris
P.S. "Munroe"s (correctly spelled 'Monroes' I believe) were "bombs" which contained only leaflets, usually for propaganda purposes, quite commonly included in bomb loads during 44-45.
From Colin Hanson’s By Such Deeds - Honours and Awards in the Royal New Zealand Air Force, 1923-1999:
HOOPER, Flying Officer Herbert Wilfred, DFC.
NZ40111; Born Kaponga, 21 Jun 1914; RNZAF 5 Jan 1940 to 30 Jan 1946; Pilot.
Citation Distinguished Flying Cross (7 Dec 1945): [75(NZ)Sqn RAF (Lancaster)] Flying Officer Hooper, as Pilot, has completed numerous operations against the enemy, in the course of which he has invariably displayed the utmost fortitude, courage and devotion to duty.
Flt Lt Hooper joined the RNZAF as an armourer and after initial ground training in NZ he embarked for the UK and was posted to 26 Sqn RAF (Lysander) in Sep 1940. On 1 Mar 1941 he joined 485 Sqn RNZAF (Spitfire) on its formation, serving with them until posted for aircrew training; pre-war he had flown as a pilot with the Hawera Aero Club. On completion of his pilot training in Canada and England he joined 75(NZ)Sqn at Mepal in Dec 1944. He completed one tour of 33 sorties to the following targets - Osterfeld(2), Witten, Siegen, Trier(2), Dresden, Rheydt(2), Cologne(2), Heligoland minelaying(2), Wesel(3), Vohwinkel, Nuremberg, Ludwigshafen, Neuss, Sterkrade, Kiel, Essen, Wiesbaden, Hohenbudberg, Chemnitz, Kamen, Gelsenkirchen, Datteln, Dortmund, Hamm, The Hague (leaflets) and Hallendorf. An uncle, Wg Cdr W E Hooper AFC, served with the RAF from 1930, while a cousin Sgt P J Hooper RNZAF (pilot) was kao over Europe on 24 Jul 1942.
Bruce, if you are still visiting WONZ, and in case you haven't seen it yet, I have just come across this in Wikipedia's entry for 75 Sq:
"An unusual sortie for 75 Squadron was the high altitude run over The Hague in March 1945 by a lone Lancaster piloted by Flight Lieutenant H W Hooper. He dropped thousands of leaflets containing an apology from the British government for the earlier Allied bombing of the city which had been an error."
The error apparently took place on 3 March 1945, when the RAF accidentally bombed the Bezuidenhout neighbourhood in the Dutch city of The Hague, which was overcrowded with war evacuees.
"The British bomber crews had intended to bomb the Haagse Bos where the Germans had installed V-2 launching facilities that had been used to attack English cities. But the pilots were issued with the wrong coordinates so the meteorological instruments of the bombers had been set incorrectly, and fog and clouds obscured their vision. The bombs were instead dropped on the Bezuidenhout residential neighbourhood."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_the_Bezuidenhout
There is an entry in the 75 Sq ORB for 25 March 1945, up 20.40, down 23.21:
"One aircraft was detailed for a nickeling raid on the Hague, carrying 12 x 350 Munroes. The operation was successful and uneventful."
Lancaster III PB424, "O"
F/L Hooper, H, Pilot
Sgt Lane, K, Nav
F/S Holt, E , A/B
W/O Gordon, A, WO/AIR
Sgt Palmer, J, F/Eng
Sgt Sturrock, P, M/U/Gnr
Sgt Spiby, J, R/Gnr
Bomb load 12 x 350 Munroe (Type H.10)
Primary target - The Hague (Scheveningen)
Consider dropped accurately on centre of target.
Cheers, Chris
P.S. "Munroe"s (correctly spelled 'Monroes' I believe) were "bombs" which contained only leaflets, usually for propaganda purposes, quite commonly included in bomb loads during 44-45.
