For the people of the Netherlands, the winter of 1944/45 was referred to as “Hongerwinter” or hunger winter”. They lived in starvation as food supplies had been cut off by the German occupiers and this, paired with a lack of fuel for heating their homes, led to an estimated 20,000 civilian deaths.
By April, half of the country had been liberated but for those in the central and northern part the suffering continued. Starving people were eating tulip bulbs to survive.
Negotiations for a truce to allow the unimpeded delivery of food by an airdrop was negotiated by Prince Bernard of the Netherlands, with the permission of Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt. The Germans were represented by Reichskommissar Arthur Syess-Inquart. The major obstacle was that the German anti-aircraft artillery was positioned to shoot flak up at the Allied bomber formations on the way to their raids over Nazi Germany. Another issue was the British, Canadian and allied armies were still pushing forward in the area where many of the rations would need to be dropped.
The negotiations were held with the assistance of Swiss and Swedish emissaries. As well there was a Russian representative present. The deliberations resulted in ‘Operation Manna’, named after an episode in the book of Exodus when food was miraculously provided to the Israelites. One of the key agreements was that certain corridors would be “open” allowing Allied airmen to fly through, with the promise from the Germans that they would not be fired upon by anti-aircraft artillery. The fact that the planes would be flying at 400 feet or below (for the safety of the parcels) gave much for the crewmen to be worried about.
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The date selected for the British to start was April 29th. Included with the British RAF were squadrons from the Australian, Canadian, New Zealand and Polish air forces. Seven thousand tonnes of food were prepared for the drop. Included were such staples as dried eggs, milk powder, salt, margarine, dried yeast, mustard, cheese, luncheon meat, tea, chocolate, and white flour for what the Dutch would call “liberation bread”.
The following are excerpts from a book by Ted Barris titled “Days of Victory”.
The April 29 plan called for 16 Lancaster Bomber aircraft from Squadron 625 to depart their base in Britain. They would be joined by 242 other Lancaster bombers and dozens of Pathfinder Mosquito Bombers enroute to the Dutch Coast.
One of the 625 Squadron aircraft was piloted by Captain Joe English from Calgary with his crew of four Canadians, one Briton and an Australian. They had previously completed 30 bombing operations which would have accounted for a full tour of duty. They had named their aircraft “M for Mabel”.
Upper mid-gunner Burke Thomas from Cardston Alberta was instructed to place plastic caps over the muzzles of every gun and to not fire unless fired on.
On route to the Dutch coast “M for Mabel’s” navigator, Harvey Gottried had been briefed that drop zones would be clearly marked with green lights and white cloth crosses on the ground. Gottfried had to navigate the Lancaster through a cloud base at about five hundred feet as well as rain and snow showers. They reached the Dutch coast, just after 1:30 p.m. and the clouds had dispersed, and visibility had improved.
Gottfried, normally would never leave his post but this being a daylight trip, he ventured to a nearby window to witness history in the making. Looking down, the navigator from “SAUGEEN ONTARIO” could see the German anti-aircraft guns and knew that if they fired, the damage they could cause to the Lancaster would be disastrous.
“At this point I stopped reading the book and thought about this; A local guy from our community was right there at this most important moment in time. Before we talk about Harvey Gottfried, let’s wrap up April 29,1945.
By day’s end, 246 Lancaster’s had flown from bases North of London and 239 of them had successfully dropped more than five hundred tons of food at four appointed Dutch drop zones – the Waalhaven aerodrome, the Ypenburg airport, the Valkenburg airfield and the racetrack near The Hague.
The food drops continued until May 7th the date of Germany’s surrender.
What a wonderful way to end that horrible war. And a young man from our community played a part in making life better for many.
Now, who was Harvey Gottfried?
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM
Researched and written by: G. William Streeter
With Thanks to:
Marion Koepke
Skip Gottfried
Ted Barris – Author of Days of Victory
