World War Three 1946 Series Boxed Set: Stalin Strikes First

by Harry Kellogg

  On September 24th, it all changed. Homing beacons appeared in four separate areas of the seas surrounding Britain. The southernmost one started transmitting from the Celtic Sea. Another was off Ireland in the area known as Donegal Bay. Another was in the Shetland Trench off Scotland and the fourth in the North Sea. The Royal Navy was instantly alert, and the individual commands in their respective areas each decided how to react. The beacons started transmitting within minutes of each other and were extremely powerful and unmistakable in their intent. The timing was such that the daily raids were formed up and were heading in their usual directions.

  The forces in the Celtic Sea reacted aggressively and started to send 4 squadrons of aircraft into the area along with two destroyers and 10 other smaller vessels, including five Frigates and the famous 2nd Support Group. Four of the Black Swan Class Sloops of the original 2nd Support Group that had sunk 22 U-boats in the last war were still looking for victims. The original sloops Starling, Wren, Cyngnet and Wild Goose were joined by the Flamingo, Magpie and Amethyst. These sloops were the most experienced sub hunters in the Royal navy. Although their commanders and crews had changed, their tenacity and training had not diminished. Already they sank three Soviet Seehunds, the most of any unit. Their commander of the group was puzzled at the audacity of the Soviet beacons but was determined to follow orders. The task force was ordered to silence the beacon, and to sink the submarines responsible. 2nd Support Group was the farthest from the beacons in the Irish Sea. It would take another 30 minutes for them to rendezvous with the other destroyers and frigates which were within 60 minutes of the beacon.

  Two squadrons of Royal Navy Seafires were scrambled as well as two squadrons of Hawker Sea Furies and a squadron of submarine hunters. The distances involved for the British planes were 150 miles from their bases. The VVS southern raid, which normally turned away from British air space, kept going flying north in one massive cloud. Some of the Navies 4.5” guns got off some long-range volleys and did score a few hits but by and large, there were now 45 squadrons of fighters between the five Royal navy squadrons and home. The Hawker Sea Furies could have theoretically used their long-range and speed to out-maneuver the Soviets planes, but the Seafires were in trouble. They were slower and could not out climb the La7s that were vectoring in on them. The Hawker Sea Furies to a man decided to stay with their comrades and try to see them home.

  The destroyer flotilla included the HMS Charity and Consort, both Class C British destroyers. Being closer to the beacons when they became active, they too were cut off from safety by the distances involved. The 2nd Support Group and all its famous sloops were ordered to return to port when it became apparent that the beacon was a possible ruse. Their commander, knowing the potential fate of the destroyers and other ships of the flotilla, claimed radio troubles and decided to add his AA guns to the fight. For its part, the RAF was concerned with the three other huge raids still circling over the channel and winging their way over the North Sea towards the Northern-most beacon. The Royal navy fleet command out of Scapa Flow already decided to let the beacons transmit as it saw what was transpiring down south in the Celtic Sea. The two beacons off Scotland and Ireland were silenced fairly quickly by physical attacks by aircraft. That left the two sending out steady signals and capable of guiding the Red Air Force to any target in Britain and safely home.

  The RAF did not have enough units in the position to join in the Battle of the South Beacon. The large VVS raids in the air circling over France seemed to be waiting to see the reaction of the RAF to the beacons. Fighter Command decided to play it safe and let the RN take care of its own. No aircraft carriers were within range. The task force of small sub chasers and the two destroyers were in for the fight of their lives along with four Royal Navy fighter squadrons.

  Using Us for Practice

  The first Soviet VVS Pe 2 Buck dive bombers over the small convoy desperately trying to make its way back to port, took quite a beating. Out of the 23 planes that made the initial attacks, 5 were shot down and no hits were scored. The attack, however, caused the HMS DD Charity and HMS DD Consort to become separated as they twisted and turned obeying their commander's orders, the orders that caused the destroyers to lurch to port and starboard in ever more erratic patterns trying to confuse the dive bombing Pe2s. It worked for a good 10 minutes and by then 2nd Support group and its five frigates were within 15 minutes of the destroyers and their smaller Corvettes of the Castle Class, the HMS Hadleigh Castle, HMS Lancaster Castle and HMS Bamborough Castle. The Corvettes were subsequently in trouble with swarms of Yak 9 UTs, who were firing their 37mm cannons from just out of the range of the 20 mm on the little ships. Each in turn was silenced quickly and for the most part, out of the fight fairly soon. At various times the DD Charity and DD Consort desperately tried to form up and give each other mutual support but the demands of dodging dive bombers and strafing ground attack aircraft drew them farther and farther apart and soon they were alone in their battles for survival.

  The DD Consort was hit by a torpedo from a Soviet XXI submarine and was dead in the water and one by one her guns fell silent. She took four Pe2s with her in the end but was effectively out of the fight after 24 minutes of first contact. A floating and burning hulk, that for the most part, was ignored as the furious attacks continued on her sister ship the DD Charity.

  The Charity seemed to live a charmed life. She did not shoot down that many more planes during the fight. Quite possibly because her captain made such violent maneuvers that her guns could not be brought to bear for long. In addition, the Pe2s that were diving on her were not your typical kamikaze planes who bore straight in. They twisted and turned throwing off the aim of the gunners and the shells propelled in their paths as they screamed down in their attacks from practically straight overhead. The 4.5” guns seem almost totally ineffective, and were almost useless once the dive bombers were overhead. They could only elevate to less than a 50 degree angle and the 40mm were little better at 55 degrees. That left the 20 mm guns alone to deal with the dive bombers and few were hit in their attack runs as they pulled up from their dives out of optimal range of 3,000 feet. If the destroyers were closer to each other, they could have covered each other from these kinds of attacks but alone the Charity was living on borrowed time and time that was running out. The Pe2s seemed to be almost taking bombing practice and making leisurely attacks from practically a straight down angle of up to 70 degrees. Fortunately for the Charity, they needed the practice.

  Ten minutes before the frigates of the 2nd Support Group could reach effective support range the Charity’s fate took a turn for the worst. One of the Soviet’s flight leaders properly timed the Charity’s captain’s last evasive maneuver and his BETAB-170DS rocket assisted bomb hit the destroyer amid ships. His wingman hit her near the stern and she stopped dead in the water in less than a minute. The Captain of the Charity, in one of his last signals warned off 2nd Support Group and ordered them to take evasive action and turn for home. The attacking planes seemed to not be aware of the frigates and left them alone. Their sights were now set on the five squadrons of Royal Navy aircraft trying to fight their way home.

  Upon hearing of their predicament the two squadrons of Sea Furies took top cover over their slower two squadrons of Seafires. They decided to head due East and try to fight their way through using the shortest route to safety. By heading straight East and going through the teeth of the enemy’s strength the Seafires had about 30 minutes of additional time to dogfight before they reached bingo fuel and had to head for home. There had been a short debate as to whether they should use that extra range to try to outrun the cloud of Soviet aircraft, but it was unanimously decided to fight straight through or die trying.

  The Sea Furies would attempt to boom and zoom the Soviet fighters sure to be on the tails of the Sea Fires. This meant that the more powerful and faster Sea Furies would stay at a high level until they spotted one of their fellow airmen in trouble and would boom down from above and a
ttempt to break up the attack. After a diving attack they would zoom back up to a higher altitude and attempt to do it again. Planes with more powerful engines and better power to weight ratios have been doing this to slower more maneuverable antagonists ever since aerial warfare was invented. One of the best planes at this tactic was the P-38 twin boom lightning, which had cleared the skies over the Pacific despite having two engines and was almost twice the size of the Zero fighter it faced. It accomplished this feat by booming from a high altitude and then zooming away. Most NATO aircraft at this stage of the war used this tactic against their opponents. Only the Spitfire and Seafire of the British would still attempted to turn and burn with certain of their enemies.

  If the numbers had not been so overwhelming the story might have been different. After first contact, most of the RAF fighters found themselves alone without a wingman and in combat against 5 or more enemy fighters. Ironically the few who did escape did so because the Soviet fighters kept getting in each other’s line of fire and trying to steal the “kill” from their comrades…and kill they did. 30 Seafires started out the fight with only 5 coming back. The Sea Furies did better with 10 of the 24 surviving. Two VVS Yak 3s collided trying to get on the tail of one of the surviving Seafires and 2 more were shot down mostly by having the unlucky experience of ending up in front of the same Sea Fury’s four 20mm cannons within seconds of each other. The lucky pilot who got two kills in 10 seconds died seconds later and no one is sure which pilot it was. It was a devastating loss of 35 planes in a matter of minutes. Luckily, the waters of the Irish Sea still held some warmth from the Gulf Current and five pilots were rescued before hypothermia set in.

  Some measure of revenge was extracted up north. The fleet out of Scapa Flow did not take the bait and waited until after the Northern Soviet air armada had departed back to base. A flotilla of Corvettes and night flying sub hunter aircraft arrived near the beacon and waited. After several hours of darkness five Seehund mini subs which had been part of the trap, surfaced in the area.

  They had run out of battery power and oxygen and were forced to surface and having a limited range of only 63 km submerged and a speed of three knots they were still in the area of the beacon. The radar of the Corvettes picked them up and the sub hunter aircraft sunk 3 of them in a night action attack.

  Eye Witness Report Battle of the Beacons

  Sept. 25th, 1946

  By Wayne Pierre Sub-Lieutenant HMS Charity

  1. At about 0655, numerous enemy planes were contacted by our instruments as coming towards the ship from the East, distance about 55 miles. Four Squadrons of fighters were ordered to intercept.

  2. At about 0655 the entire Combat Air Patrol was ordered out in different formations to intercept and engage the overwhelming number of enemy planes closing in on us. They were so busy that they could not send us reports but we intercepted their communications. It sounded like they themselves had been caught in a trap. EO reported that there were no friendly planes within 15 km of this ship.

  3. From this time on the Charity and the Consort were attacked continuously by numerous enemy aircraft coming at us in groups of 9 to 12 planes on each ship. For the most part, they were dive bombers. The Corvettes themselves were all under attack as well.

  4. The tempo of the engagement and the maneuver of the two destroyers at high speed was such as to cause the Charity and the Consort to be separated by distances as much as two and three miles. This resulted in individual action by both ships. Three times the Consort suggested to the Charity that they close for mutual support and efforts were made to achieve this but each time the attacks prevented the ships from closing each other. The Charity closed the four small support ships several times during the engagement.

  5. From 0730 to 0800, the Charity was attacked by groups of planes coming in on both bows. Three enemy planes were shot down by the Charity’s guns during this period, at times firing all guns invarious directions. The Consort, which at this time was at a distance of about three miles to the northward, was seen fighting off a number of planes by herself, several of which were seen to be destroyed. At 0800, the Consort was hit by a torpedo and all her guns put out of action by attacking aircraft. At one time toward the close of the battle when friendly planes were closing to assist us, the three support ships were prevented from shooting down two friendlies whom they had taken under fire. One plane was seen to splash inside their formation due to their own gunfire. However, I am not able to give an accurate account of their action. They were very helpful in picking up my crew who were in the water, in coming alongside and removing wounded and in helping us to pump.

  6. From this time on, the Charity received the bulk of the attacks and action became furious with all guns firing at planes on all sides of the ship. The EO reported that the radar scope was filled with enemy planes. The Commanding Officer saw that the situation was becoming too much for one ship to handle and he requested that the Combat Air Patrol to close the formation and assist us. With outstanding courage, our planes fearlessly closed the ships and attacked enemy planes. They achieved great results and when the Charity was finally helpless in the water, our crew was sparked with renewed courage by the sight of our airmen trying to drive off the remaining enemy aircraft.

  7. For 10 minutes the Charity fought off the enemy single handed, being separated from the Consort, which was out of action, by three miles and from the four small support ships by two miles. Finally, at 0920, ten enemy planes which had surrounded the Charity, four on the starboard bow under fire by the main battery and machine guns, four on the port bow under fire by the forward machine guns, and two astern under fire by the after machine guns, attacked the ship simultaneously. As a result of this attack, the Charity was (1) hit by a bomb aft (2) by a bomb amid ships.

  8. The ship was badly holed and immediately both engine rooms and one fire room were flooded and the ship settled down and listed rapidly. All 4.5-inch guns were out of action, a fire was raging aft of number two stack, ammunition was exploding, and the entire ship was engulfed in a thick black smoke which forced the crew to seek safety, some by jumping over the side, others by crowding forward and awaiting orders. The ship was helpless to defend herself and at this time the situation appeared hopeless. The Commanding Officer received reports from the Chief Engineer and the Damage Control Officer who indicated that the main spaces were flooded and that the ship was rapidly developing into a condition which would capsize her. The exploding ammunition and the raging fire appeared to be extremely dangerous. The engineers were securing the forward boilers to prevent them from blowing up. The order "Prepare to abandon Ship" was given and life rafts and floats were put over the side. A party of about fifty men and officers was being organized to make a last fight to save the ship and the remainder of the crew and the wounded were put over into the water.

  9. From this point on, a truly amazing, courageous and efficient group of men and officers with utter disregard for their own personal safety approached the explosions and the fire with hoses and for fifteen minutes kept up this work. The torpedoes were jettisoned, weights removed from the starboard side, and finally the fire was extinguished and the list and flooding controlled and the ship was saved. Although the ship was still in an extremely dangerous condition, one fire room bulkhead held and she was finally towed safely.

  10. The total number of enemy planes destroyed by the Charity in this period of one hour and thirty-five minutes of continuous firing was 17.

  HMS Charity

  Chapter Fifteen:

  The Second Battle of Britain

  VVS MiG 9 Fargos mix it up with an RAF Meteor over the Channel

  ***

  A battle of acumen and resolve begins

  ***

  September 26, 1946

  The next morning beacons were again placed in locations similar to the others. The VVS waited circling to see the reaction from the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. They waited by streaming towards their usual points of return. They headed on th
e same routes taken day after day, waiting by moving towards their points of departure, points of departure that could lead into the airspace of the British Isles, points of departure that would begin the battle in earnest.

  On the morning of Sept. 26th, there was no reaction from the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force and the VVS did not turn back from its familiar course. The beacons sent out their signal long and strong.

  The Second Battle of Britain began. At no time has such a mass of planes filled such a small area. Not at any time had four 1,000 plane raids simultaneously entered combat before. Never had an air force placed so many engines of destruction over so small a land mass. There was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide for the people of the British Isles. All that was left to do was to fight...and fight they did.

  Day One

  Adam was witnessing an odd sight, waves of planes flying not in the usual V or Box or even Finger Four formation but in kind of a school of fish formation. He did not have firsthand knowledge or had ever seen a Soviet bomber or even fighter before, but here they were in the hundreds, droning overhead in their odd formation going much faster than the US and RAF heavy bombers. They were traveling closer to the speed of the few Mosquito formations he had seen. He had joined the AntiAircraft regiment after the Blitz and had not seen many large formations of similar German medium bombers. The numbers were staggering and disconcerting.

  He had read that the largest daylight raid ever mounted by the Luftwaffe was around 800 planes during the first Battle of Britain…First Battle of Britain. He could never in his wildest imagination think that he would utter or even think that phrase, yet here it was. This was of course the second day of raids. That first couple of raids a week ago decimated the airfields and maintenance units used to repair RAF planes. It was a stunning success for the VVS or Red Air Force. Hundreds if not a thousand repairable planes laid to waste and ruin. Then came the debacle over the beacons.