Last Swordfish Pilot In Raid On Taranto


Thursday, July 06, 2006

Lieutenant-Commander John Wellham

History was made in November 1940 by 21 obsolete biplanes launched from a British aircraft carrier against the Italian navy in its fortified base of Taranto. The raid sounded the death-knell of that generation of giant battleships which had begun with HMS Dreadnought in 1907. John Wellham, the last survivor of the pilots in the raid, has died aged 87.

A mauling for the Italian fleet gave the Royal Navy the upper hand in the Mediterranean. The Japanese were inspired by the coup to do the same, with modern planes and on a much bigger scale, to the US fleet at Pearl Harbor 13 months later. Taranto proved the battleship to be fatally vulnerable to the torpedo.

The attack was the idea of Rear-Admiral AL Lyster, commanding the two aircraft carriers in Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham's Mediterranean fleet. Already delayed by three weeks, the raid went ahead on November 11 despite the breakdown of HMS Eagle, the carrier where Wellham was a pilot with 824 squadron, Fleet Air Arm. The other, more modern carrier, Illustrious, launched all 16 of her Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers, to which five from Eagle were added, including Wellham's.

The aircraft could fly at barely 100 knots, preferably with a following wind, carrying a single torpedo or 1,500lb of bombs. The two- or three-man crews called them stringbags, referring to wires holding upper and lower wings together. Enemy fire often passed through the canvas body, while double wings made them extremely manoeuvrable. These virtues enabled an aircraft obsolete even when it joined the navy in 1936 to make important contributions to the allied victory at sea.
Wellham had notched up useful practice for the Taranto raid. He made two torpedo attacks on Italian warships during the battle of Calabria in July 1940, for which he was mentioned in dispatches. In August he and two other Swordfish pilots, crossing the Mediterranean from a desert airfield, attacked Italian vessels moored in the Bay of Bomba, sinking two submarines, a depot ship and a destroyer. They were almost out of fuel when they returned, and Wellham, who was lightly wounded, won the Distinguished Service Cross.
Despite the risks and importance of Taranto, few medals were awarded to the participants. They took off from Illustrious in two waves in the dark, from about 170 miles south-east of Taranto, taking almost two hours to reach it before dawn. Wellham was in the second wave and could see the damage done, including burning oil tanks. But the surprise achieved by the first wave was denied to the second, which came under anti-aircraft fire.
On the way in, Wellham's aircraft had to evade a rogue barrage balloon and was hit several times. He got down to launching level and dropped his torpedo at a battleship. Threequarters of a tonne lighter, the battered Swordfish bounced up, straight into the hail of shot. Only by violent manoeuvring was Wellham able to get clear and fly back to his ship. As he approached the flight deck his single engine failed, forcing him to land like a glider. Only two of the 21 Swordfish were lost with their crews. The raiders received a short congratulatory signal from Cunningham; Wellham was mentioned in dispatches once more.
Wellham was born on the Isle of Bute; his father was a retired naval petty officer. Keen on flying since childhood, he joined the RAF at 17, qualified as a pilot and transferred to the Fleet Air Arm with a commission.
Wellham was later given command of 815 squadron, temporarily based in the north African desert in support of the army and RAF. He spent the last part of the war in charge of flying operations on escort carriers, protecting the Atlantic convoys against U-boats and later supporting the Americans in the Pacific.
He retired from the navy in 1954 to work as a sales executive with various companies. He published two books on the Taranto attack in 1995 and gave the toast at a commemorative dinner on the 65th anniversary in 2005. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Judy, and their son and daughter.
· John Walter George Wellham, pilot, born January 2 1919; died May 9 2006

Reminds me of the brave pilots in another Fairy aircraft I am reading about at the moment, those who attacked the Meuse bridgeheads in May 1940. It appears one (or is it 3 airmen?) may have destroyed part of one of the bridges in a Kamikaze attack and rendered it useless for a while. They were almost all Kamikaze's in those Fairy Battles!

Another of the Greatest Generation is gone but will never be forgotten.

May he rest in peace.

going into that mission in that type of plane took balls of steel!

RIP

Perseus....My father was supposed to be on that raid but was stood down as he had a young family, [Me]

May this soldier rest in peace.