transatlantische vluchten in oorlogstijd

[jacob]

Ik heb een vraag die me al een tijdje bezighoudt: In de oorlog vlogen bepaalde mensen over de Atlantische Oceaan, bijvoorbeeld Prins Bernhard om zijn vrouw en dochters in Canada te ontmoeten. Maar ook de Amerikaanse president Roosevelt om aan de conferentie in Jalta deel te nemen. In wat voor toestellen vlogen deze personen eigenlijk?

[Boris]

Hallo Jacob,

Ik weet dat Winston Churchill een B-24 gebruikte om lange afstanden te overbruggen. B.v. naar Caïro en Moskou.
Of hij er ooit mee over de Atlantische Oceaan heeft gevlogen weet ik niet echt. Hij hield niet zo van vliegen. Ik weet dat hij liever een schip nam naar de USA of Canada.

Voor F.D.R. is ook een B-24 afgeleide gebouwd, namelijk de C-87A. Maar omdat de B-24 als te onveilig werd beschouwd mocht hij daar niet in vliegen.
Hij is echter met een Dixie Clipper, een PanAm Boeing 314 vliegboot in 1943 naar Casablanca in Marokko gevlogen.
Op weg naar de conferentie in Jalta (februari 1945) is hij met een VC-54C gegaan. Met dit vliegtuig is hij maar één keer op stap geweest.

Mvg, Boris

[Boris]

Nog een kleine aanvulling wat betreft Winston Churchill.
Hij is meerdere keren de Atlantische Oceaan overgestoken in een Boeing 314 van BOAC. O.a. op 25 juni 1943 vanuit Baltimore naar Engeland.

Zie ook nog deze foto van een vlucht van Virginia naar Bermuda.

Winston Churchill in the captain's seat aboard BOAC Boeing 314 flying-boat "Berwick"
(civil registry G-AGCA), enroute from Virginia to Bermuda. January 16th, 1942. (Imperial War Museum)

Mvg, Boris

[Classic]

In August 1941, Jan Moll joined the Royal Air Force Ferry Command, ferrying bomber aircraft and newly trained air crews from Canada to England. When Moll was in Ottowa on ferry service, a member of the Dutch Embassy there asked him to visit Princess Juliana in the suburb of Rockliffe Park, where she and Princesses Beatrix and Irene lived, waiting for the war to end. Moll was greeted by the maid and by a curieus Beatrix sliding down the banister to get there as fast as she could. Moll had a long conversation with Princess Juliana, who showed great interest in his experiences in the Battle of Rotterdam and how he got to England.
On 7 May 1942, Moll again met Prince Bernhard, this time as a passenger on a B24 Liberator on return to Britain after seeing his family in Ottawa. They did a night flight from Montreal to Gandar {Newfoundland) to Prestwick (Glasgow). Du ring the stopover at Gandar, Prince Bernhard took the opportunity to seek out Moll.
He told Moll that Queen Wilhelmina had been in contact with the British government in London for Bernhard to make a long trip, first to Washington to see President Roosevelt, then to North Africa to speak to General Montgomery, and lastly to see Genera! Eisenhower in Algiers. Prince Bernhard told Moll that instead of using regular airlines via the Azores, he preferred to have a Dutch plane and a Dutch Chief Pilot. The idea was that when a Mitchell (B25 bomber) was to be delivered to England for Dutch operational use, it would be delivered via the South Atlantic route and double up as a flight for Prince Bernhard to see Roosevelt, Montgomery and Eisenhower.
Moll’s direct chief officer, Sir Frederick Bowhill, Air Chief Marshall Atlantic Command, put Moll in charge of the delivery flight, which eventually left Montreal on 23 February 1943 with Prince Bernhard as the second pilot and a third pilot, a New Zealander, Flight Lieutenant C.W.H. Thomson, who had previously flown the Mitchell.
The flight started at Montreal and went to Washington, where the Prince was taken to see President Roosevelt.
From there they proceeded to the American base of West Palmbeach in Florida, to Trinidad, to Belem in Brazil, to Natal also in Brazil, and on a night flight to Ascension lsland in the South Atlantic Ocean with navigation by the stars. During the long night flight, Prince Bernhard and Moll discussed Dutch plans for post-war Holland, especially air travel. The Netherlands required room to move, so that it could become a stable and strong influence on other countries on the Continent. To fulfil this role, KLM would need to hold on to pre-war flight connections, establish routes to North America and further develop the routes to the East lndies. From Ascension lsland to Accra, capital of Ghana, they flew to Maidugeri in Nigeria, then across to Khartoum, up the Nile River to Caïro and along the coastal road to Tripoli.
General Montgomery was stationed at an advance post near Nafati, close to Rommel’s Army. The plan was for the Prince to visit Montgomery there. Moll had promised Sir Frederick Bowhill that he would deliver the Mitchell without bullet holes in it, so for the most dangerous part of the journey to Nafati North they borrowed a Lockheed Hudson, a plane with which Moll had had previous flying experience. They went with four Spitfire aircraft for protection. The group all met Montgomery, who spent about two hours in discussions with Prince Bernhard.
They returned to Tripoli, and Moll landed the Lockheed Hudson close to a series of land mines that had not as yet been cleared, and whose presence had not been communicated to him. From Tripoli they flew to Algiers to meet with Eisenhower at his headquarters where the Prince accomplished the assignments given to him by the Queen and the Dutch government-in-exile. The trip from Algiers to Gibraltar, to Lyneham, England, and on to Prestwick to deliver an unscathed plane was uneventful.
Moll and Prince Bernhard had travelled 20,000 miles together.
On 10 September 1943, Captain Jan Johannes Moll was recognised for his work with the Atlantic Ferry Service by being awarded an Honorary Order of the British Empire, signed ‘By the Sovereign’s Command Mary R [Sgd) Grand Master’, presumably signed by the former Queen Consort, then the Queen Mother, who had met Moll on 19 October 1934, just before the start of the Uiver in the London to Melbourne air race. The citation includes the following:
In recognition of his distinguished services on the North Atlantic Return Ferry service and on other routes of vital importance to the prosecution of the war. Captain Moll is a pilot whose experience and skill have earned for him a world-wide reputation, and his devotion to duty and fine example have been an inspiration to all engaged in maintaining war-time air communications.
Air Marshall Sir Frederick Bowhill, Secretary of State for Air and friend of Winston Churchill Sir Archibald Sinclair and Dutch Minister of Transportation Ir. (senior engineer) J.W. Albarda all attended the ceremony. We do not know who pinned the medal on to the lapel of Moll’s pilot’s uniform. Could it have been King George VI, who in 1927 as the Duke of York had met Alfred Waugh on the Albury Railway Station?
By early 1944, consideration was being given to Princess Juliana returning to Britain, with her children to follow by ship. There was correspondence between Moll and Prince Bernhard concerning this. They were on such good terms that Prince Bernhard, in a letter dated 7 February 1944, referred to Moll as the resident pilot to their Majesties.
Bernhard hoped that Moll would fly Juliana on some future occasion, but Sir Frederick Bowhill had already allocated a Liberator for Princess Juliana’s return flight.
After the war ended, Moll continued to work for a short time with BOAC on its Lyneham to Karachi run, flying an AVRO York. In June 1945, Jan Moll was approached by Albert Plesman, the Director of KLM, and asked if he would return to Holland to help rebuild the battered Dutch airline company. Moll re-joined KLM and continued to serve with KLM until his retirement in 1954 at the age of 54 years. For the last twelve months of service, Moll held the rank of Commodore (four stripes). On 21 April 1955, by order of Queen Juliana, Jan Johannes Moll was made an Officier of the Order of Oranje Nassau, a level higher than the Ridder level to which he already belonged.
Words Noel Jackling
(Holland Focus, volume 9 no 2, March/April 2014, pages 58-6)

[Bofors]

Hierover is ook e.e.a. te lezen in Moll's boek: "langs de hoge weg".

[jacob]

Dank voor de snelle reacties. Ik had eigenlijk verwacht dat er meer van vliegboten zoals de Boeing 314 gebruik werd gemaakt. De VC-54C rolde pas in 1942 van de band dus die kan pas vanaf dat jaar zijn ingezet. Voor de rest werden er dus een aantal Amerikaanse bommenwerpers gebruikt. Interessant ! !

[jan wullink]

Uit de Wikipedia;

During World War II, the C-54 was used by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Douglas MacArthur, and Winston Churchill. The American delegates to the Casablanca Conference used the Skymaster.

Besides transport of cargo, the C-54 also carried presidents, prime ministers, and military staff.

C-54BIncreased fuel capacity in the wing, One was used by Winston Churchill, 220 built

[Boris]

Hallo Jan,

Jouw bron (wikipedia) betreffende het vliegtuig gebruikt naar de conferentie in Casablanca geeft een ander vliegtuig weer als mijn bron (ook van het internet).

Zo zie je maar weer dat internet een slechte bron voor informatie is.

Mvg, Boris