Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1939-1941. Wing Commander Richard Kellett, Commanding Officer of No. 149 Squadron RAF, seated at his desk at Mildenhall, Cambridgeshire. On 18 December 1939, Kellett led a force of 24 Vickers Wellingtons drawn from Nos. 9, 37 and 149 Squadrons to search for enemy shipping targets in the Schillig Roads off Wilhelmshaven, Germany. The Wellingtons were detected by a German radar station on Wangerooge Island while still on their approach flight, and were subsequently intercepted by fighters. Nine Wellingtons were shot down, three ditched into the sea and a further t
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1939-1941. Wing Commander Richard Kellett, Commanding Officer of No. 149 Squadron RAF, seated at his desk at Mildenhall, Cambridgeshire. On 18 December 1939, Kellett led a force of 24 Vickers Wellingtons drawn from Nos. 9, 37 and 149 Squadrons to search for enemy shipping targets in the Schillig Roads off Wilhelmshaven, Germany. The Wellingtons were detected by a German radar station on Wangerooge Island while still on their approach flight, and were subsequently intercepted by fighters. Nine Wellingtons were shot down, three ditched into the sea and a further three were forced to seek other landing grounds as they were too badly damaged to return. Kellett was one of those shot down and became a prisoner-of-war. In January 1940 (when this picture was released) he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his leadership during this disastrous raid which, together with that of 14 December, had a major effect on future British bombing policy.
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Keywords: 2, conflict, military, war, world, ww2
