Thread: Squadron Leader Tom McPhee RIP

Squadron Leader Tom McPhee - Telegraph

Squadron Leader Tom McPhee, who has died aged 91, piloted one of the Mosquitos that flew on Operation Jericho, a daring low-level attack to breach the walls of Amiens prison to liberate members of the French Resistance who were due to be shot the next day.

During early 1944 news reached London that up to 120 prisoners were facing execution, some on February 19, and the RAF was ordered to attack the prison in an attempt to free them. Two days before the first executions 18 crews of No 140 Wing, commanded by Group Captain "Pick" Pickard (famous for his appearance in the 1941 documentary Target for Tonight), received their briefing.

They were shown a replica model of the prison, and told to fly as low as 25ft. The aim was to drop delay-fused bombs to blow two holes in the walls, while a second group would open up the ends of the cruciform-shaped prison and destroy the German quarters. It was to this second task that McPhee and his navigator were assigned.

The weather on the day was appalling, but it was decided that the attack must go ahead. The 18 Mosquito bombers took off in blizzard conditions at 11am to rendezvous with their fighter escort. Three bombers were forced to turn back, but the leading section from No 487 (RNZAF) Squadron attacked the north and east walls successfully, and a few minutes later McPhee and his fellow pilots of No 464 (RAAF) Squadron attacked the prison, blowing the ends off the main building.

The attacks were of pinpoint accuracy, and a third wave of aircraft was not required, but was ordered to return to base. Whilst circling to observe the results, Pickard was shot down by a German fighter – he and his long-serving navigator, Bill Broadley, were killed.

Casualties in the prison were high, with 102 prisoners killed by the bombing or by German machine-gun fire; 50 German staff were also killed. But 258 prisoners managed to escape, including 12 of those who were due to be shot the following day.

Among those who remained at large was Raymond Vivant, a key leader of the Resistance who had been captured a few days earlier and was awaiting interrogation. Five days after the attack, a message was received in London from the French Resistance which read: "I thank you in the name of my comrades for bombardment of the prison." A post-war analysis of the operation concluded: "The attack on Amiens prison will remain one of the RAF's epics."

Thomas McPhee was born at Greenock on November 30 1917 and educated at Preston Technical College. He began his working life as a draughtsman at Vauxhall Motors in Luton, but joined the RAF to train as a pilot in September 1938. His younger brother, James, also joined the RAF, and flew Hurricane fighters during the Battle of Britain.

McPhee joined No 139 Squadron at the end of 1940 to fly Blenheims on daylight bombing attacks. They encountered fierce anti-aircraft fire, and casualties on the Blenheim squadrons were high. He attacked the port facilities at Rotterdam, Boulogne and Calais, and during a shipping sweep over the North Sea he sank two small ships.

In early 1941 formations of six Blenheims, with a strong fighter escort, were sent to bomb airfields in northern France with the aim of enticing German fighters to join combat with the RAF escorts. McPhee flew on a number of these operations and bombed German occupied airfields at St Omer and Abbeville.

On April 7 he and his crew flew in tight formation with the squadron commander to attack the Ijmuiden steel works in daylight. The two aircraft met intense enemy fire, but McPhee maintained his position and the target was bombed from 50ft. On leaving the area his aircraft was attacked by an enemy fighter, which damaged one of the Blenheim's engines. The enemy pursued him half way across the North Sea before McPhee was able to shake it off. He returned to base and made an emergency landing.

McPhee was awarded an immediate DFM, and a comrade recalled: "We congratulated him, but he was visibly annoyed that his crew – who had been on all his sorties – were neglected and not mentioned."

On May 27 McPhee flew his 40th, and final, sortie on No 139 when, still a sergeant, he led eight aircraft to attack the airfield at Lannion, near Brest. He delivered his attack from 50ft, scoring a direct hit on a hangar.

He was then commissioned and, after a rest tour as an instructor, in December 1943 he and his close friend and permanent navigator, Geoff Atkins, joined No 464 Squadron. They flew night intruder attacks against German airfields, and in February 1944 started to bomb the V-1 launching sites and storage depots in the Pas de Calais. By April No 464 had begun attacking road and rail targets in preparation for the Normandy landings.

On the night of June 5 – as the Allied invasion force crossed the English Channel – McPhee took off to attack enemy convoys and railway junctions near the beachhead, and the following night he flew two sorties against motor transports and railways. Throughout June he undertook numerous night missions strafing and bombing trains and railway installations to prevent enemy reinforcements reaching Normandy.

By the end of June McPhee had completed 72 operations. He was awarded an immediate DFC for his "high standard of leadership and outstanding devotion to duty". He continued to fly on non-operational duties for the rest of the war, and was released from the RAF in December 1945, when he received the Air Efficiency Award.

After the war, McPhee returned to being a draughtsman. He worked for de Havilland Aircraft Company before moving to Bristol to work for Rolls-Royce until he retired.

He maintained a close friendship with his navigator and his Blenheim air gunner, both of whom attended his golden wedding celebrations. He was an accomplished self-taught artist, and he had a wide knowledge and appreciation of fine wines.

Tom McPhee, who died on February 22, married, in 1941, Elvina Duncan. She died in 2007, and he is survived by their two daughters.

From The Gestapo Hunters - 464 Squadron RAAF 1942-45 by Mark Lax and Leon Kane-Maguire:

McPhee and Atkins flew Mosquito SB-V on the Amiens raid. There is a photo of the aircraft being bombed up on page 119 and of it (MM403) and F/O Kingsley Monaghan's MM410:SB-U at ultra-low level across the Channel. They would not be 25 metres up.

Page 142:

On the 15th, (Andy - April 1944) six Squadron Mosquitoes attacked the rail yards at St Ghislain, near Mons in Belgium. Goods stores and wagon repair shops were attacked although the lead and his number two missed the target due to wrong track-keeping. Squadron Leader Tom McPhee in MM403:SB-V and Flying Officer Bill Henderson in MM407:SB-Y brought their bombs back, but the remaining aircraft bombed successfully. They were back at Hunsdon in under two hours, well pleased with their afternoon's work as described by Eric Ramsey in his diary:

Daylight low level on Mons marshalling yards. Wizard trip. Down on the deck all the way, with John Farrally following [our No 2] - it was his first daylight op. The weather this side was bad and sometimes we were in cloud at 300 feet! Things were better over the target and we pranged the target well and truly.

From the footnotes - F/L G.W. Atkins DFC...[was one of] two lead navigators.

It is interesting to note the navigational error by a very experienced nav - proof of the difficulty of high-speed low-level naviagation at any time let alone over enemy territory!

The final reference relates to McPhee's immediate DFC. Pages 155-156, 11/12 June, 1944:

In response to an Army request to bomb petrol tankers in the rail yards at Chatellerault, six Mosquitoes, three each from 487 and 464 Squadrons, quickly briefed and were airborne within 30 minutes of notice. They were followed by six from 107 Squadron about 45 minutes later. Led by their respective COs, Wing Commander 'Black' Smith was first airborne, the route planning being done on the way. Wing Commander Smith recalled the story of getting there:

We set course in cloud in formation at 1,000 ft and made the whole trip between 6-8,000 ft using Gee as the only navigation aid. We broke cloud 40 miles from Le Mans and then flew along the base of cloud until we went off our map. We then went down on the deck and flew two courses which my navigator had been able to scribble down on a piece of paper. On the run-up to the target, I flew seven degrees further north across the main double track railway leading south from Tours. I intended to find the line and fly along it to the first big town, then find the marshalling yards. This would have been Chatellerault. Twenty miles from target, No 3 got a definite pin point and took over the lead. He then flew a course only two degrees different to the one we were steering and attacked from 100-150 ft...We then flew out on a reciprocal, climbed to 7-8,000 ft and returned in cloud.

Bob Iredale followed Smith's trio in and continued the story:

We reached the target and attacked from the south. I saw 487's successful attack and I cannoned a goods train at the south end of the rail junction and bombed trains in the station, but could not identify whether they were petrol tankers. After bombing I decided to reconnoitre this very long railway line at low level until it was too dark to do so. Between the target and Chateaudun many trains were attacked, mostly troop trains stationary in small sidings.

Both Smith's and Iredale's sections were attacked by a lone Messerschmitt Bf-109 known as a 'snapper', but the German's aim was poor and no hits were recorded. Although all 13 aircraft made it home, NS893:SB-J flown by F/L ST Sharpe and F/O A Mercer swung and crashed on landing at Tangmere and both crew members were taken to St Richards Hospital, Chichester. Squadron Leader Tom McPhee who was OC 'B' Flight at the time was awarded an immediate DFC for this sortie.

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