In October Operation Hurricane ordered Bomber Command and the 8th United States Air Force to apply maximum effort in the shortest time against the densely-populated Ruhr. This would mean the crew flying to Duisburg twice in the same day, October 14, a total of 10hr 30m in the air.
The first operation began at dawn when they were among 1,013 bombers, joined over Holland by ten squadrons of Spitfires, which dropped 3,574 tons of high explosives and 820 tons of incendiaries in 25 minutes, making it the heaviest attack of the war. Easy's cargo was a 4,000lb cookie and 1,278 incendiaries. Wickenby was given the target of the Thyssen Steel Works but this was covered by dense cloud and considerable damage was caused to a built-up area.
The BBC's Richard Dimbleby, flying with 12 Squadron commanding officer Wing Commander Stockdale, reported that Duisburg "disappeared under a filthy billowing brown bulge of smoke". He added that a year earlier it would have been near-suicide to appear over the Ruhr in daylight, but even now the best the pilots could hope for was a thick curtain of bursting anti-aircraft shells and the sight of one or two of their companions twisting down to the ground in flames and smoke.
That night Fred's crew was part of another spectacular of 1,005 bombers, divided into two forces two hours apart, which broke the morning's record with 4,040 tons of high explosives and 500 tons of incendiaries on the same target.
The crew had taken off at 6.17am, bombed at 8.47am, and landed at 10.54am. They took off again that night at 10.14pm, bombed at 1.44am and returned at 4.08am. The first sortie drew the attention of anti-aircraft guns before bombing had a chance to overwhelm their positions. Fred said: "There were great big puffs of anti-aircraft fire and one Lanc 400 yards ahead just upsided itself and went straight down. He was lower and the flak was lower than me. I was surprised but not surprised: you could expect anything in a daylight raid."
The first of the day's ops, with just five more to go to the end of the tour, was one of the worst so far for opposition. For only the second time, George, with his panoramic view of the target area, would record "intense flak". The second trip to Duisburg was kinder, but still saw Easy weave its way through "moderate heavy and light flak and searchlights", according to Clair. Bill said: "When we came back into the interrogation room after an op there was always a big packet of Players on the table and Ginger was always the first to get one, and I wasn't far behind."
Clair, Fred and Lome with Easy.
The onslaught sent a powerful message to Hitler that the Allies had virtual supremacy of the air and was unprecedented in the history of aerial warfare, the bomb tonnage being more than that dropped by the Luftwaffe on London in the whole of the 1940 Blitz.Easy was one of a record 1,055 bombers sent on the night of October 23 to the strategically-important Ruhr town of Essen, home of the Krupp factories, the main supplier of weaponry to the Wehrmacht. Once again they had to brave thick flak and fighters, and, heightening the tension, bad weather meant they had to circle for 15 minutes and bomb on target-marking Wanganui flares, which burst above cloud height but had a habit of drifting in the wind, making aiming more difficult.
Two days later the crew returned in a follow-up 771-bomber daytime raid with extensive fighter cover. Approaching the target Fred looked round and saw the heart-stopping spectre of swarms of Lancasters above him ready to drop their bombs. "We were supposed to bomb from a certain altitude. I was at that altitude with only one other aircraft, and he was weaving around like anything. The rest of them were 500ft to 1,000ft above and behind me. There were stacks of them.
"We had to fly through high cloud at the coast of France to get there and there was all sorts of scrambling there just to get above the cloud. It could be that a lot of pilots kept to that height. We were there earlier than the mob. If they were on target and saw the target I stood the chance of being hit. You could be downed by bombs - a lot were. So we went straight in and dropped our bombs quickly. It was a matter of getting out of the area where bombs were falling."
Despite this and very heavy flak, a camera on board Easy showed its bombing right on target. Bombing-run photos were pinned up in the ops room, and this one had pride of place as best in squadron. Looking at a copy, which he kept, Fred said: "I have the satisfaction of knowing that if the site is by any means correct we gave it a good smacking. We were right in the centre of it, the armaments workshop. I remarked that our bombing was more accurate than the bloke who dropped the marker."
A camera on board Easy captures the moment the plane's bombs hit Krupp factories at Essen on October 25.
Krupp archives say the two raids caused the "almost complete breakdown of the electrical supply network" and "a complete paralysis". Much of Essen's surviving industrial capacity was dispersed and the town lost its role as one of Germany's most important centres of production.Most of the crew's ops had been the precision efforts Harris was forced into after D-Day, but Stuttgart and Duisburg had been unequivocal city blitzes, as was their final one, to Cologne, on October 28, the city's heaviest attack of the war so far. The 5hr sortie was part of a 733-bomber daylight raid in two waves which caused enormous damage to the Mulheim and Zollstock districts. Fred, who provided the squadron's reconnaissance report, noted: "On run-up both aiming points obscured by 10/10ths cloud, but SE and SW and NW outskirts of the town visible. Two red Wanganui flares seemed accurately placed and were bombed on masterbomber's instructions. Owing to bombing at H+1 unable to assess success of raid. No enemy fighters were seen. Moderate flak at our bombing height over target. Cumulo-stratus cloud tops 20,000ft stretching along coast of continent. Route satisfactory." Bill Hardwick, however, who was able to see more than the pilot, noted "very heavy flak over target" in his logbook. Their final op had been no picnic and when they landed some of the crew kissed the ground in thanks that they had come through it all unharmed.
Extract from Fred's logbook showing sorties for October 1944.
There had been several close calls during the tour. On one occasion a bomb failed to drop and remained a danger until they got back to base where it was gingerly removed. However, the bomb-aimer had not said anything and the first Fred knew of it was when told by the ground crew, critical that they had not been informed earlier. Less than seven weeks after the final op another crew was bringing Easy back from a 6hr sortie to Germany when fire broke out. Before anyone could react the stricken Lancaster dived into the ground at Holbeach Drove, Lincolnshire, exploding on impact. All seven crewmen died. There was a suggestion of intruders in the circuit.Fred's 31-op tour - totalling 174hr 25m - was rewarded with an assessment of his flying as "above average" and the Distinguished Flying Cross. The DFC citation read: "He has, throughout his tour, displayed a magnificent fighting spirit and has proved himself a most efficient captain and pilot. He has provided a shining example of calm courage and determination, instilling the utmost confidence in his crew. The outstanding success achieved by his crew is undoubtedly due in large measure to Flying Officer Shorney's fine fighting qualities and good captaincy."
The Bristol Evening Post announced Fred's DFC on February 20, 1945, the first he was aware of the honour.
Clair, by now a Pilot Officer, received a DFC at the same time for "exceptional ability" and for navigating often "under most difficult conditions of high and unpredicted winds and in the face of strong enemy opposition". Bill said: "Sully was the finest navigator. The turning points are most important and he always got you to the right place at the right time." Lorne, a Flight Sergeant, received the DFM for "great skill, initiative and devotion to duty". At Wickenby it was usual for only pilots, navigators and bomb-aimers to receive honours. George and Lorne were subsequently commissioned.