US Navy's WWII Operation Anvil
Operation Anvil was the World War II code name of US Navy operations to use Consolidated PB4Y-1 Liberator bombers as precision-guided munitions (drones) against bunkers and other reinforced enemy facilities. The plan called for war-weary PB4Y Liberators that had been taken out of operational service and modified to the new designation of BQ-8 to be loaded to capacity with explosives, and flown by radio control into bomb-resistant fortifications such as German U-boat pens and V-weapon sites.
Lieutenants Wilford John 'Bud' Willy (s/n O-137078) and Joseph Patrick Kennedy Jr. (s/n O-116667) were designated as the Navy's first Anvil flight crew. Willy was an expert in Radio Operations and procedures and the executive officer of Special Air Unit 1, he 'pulled rank' over Ensign James Simpson, who was Kennedy's regular co-pilot.
At RAF Fersfield, Norfolk on 12th. August 1944 Kennedy and Willy, both of the S.A.U. 1 of the Fleet Air Arm Wing Seven, boarded their 'baby', a BQ-8 drone aircraft, a converted B-24 Liberator, s/n 32271 (ex USAAF B-24J 42-110007) and began their preflight checks. The aircraft was filled with 21,270lbs of British Torpex (from 'Torpedo Explosive').
At 17:55 and 17:56 two Lockheed Ventura ‘mother’ aircraft took off followed by a B-17 Flying Fortress navigation aircraft all from RAF Fersfield. The ‘baby ’left at 18:07.
The ‘baby’ climbed to 2,000 ft, the two ‘mothers’ 200 ft. higher and slightly behind. They were joined by two de Havilland Mosquitos, one for monitoring the weather, and the second, a USAAF F-8 from the 8th. Combat Camera Unit (8 CCU) to photograph the ‘baby’. This aircraft was flown by pilot Lieutenant Robert A. Tunnel and combat camera man Lieutenant David J. McCarthy. There was also a Lockheed P-38 Lightning high altitude photo reconnaissance aircraft and four North American P-51 Mustangs, two each from the 55th. and 79th. FS's, 20 FG from Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire to provide fighter cover.
The group set off toward the target at Mimoyecques , Northern France. They were to fly south-east toward the Suffolk coast, then turn south and head toward the target. Once level and stabilised, Kennedy and Willy handed over control to one of the ‘mother’ ships Then they reached the first control point (CP) at which time the group began to turn south, the ‘mother’ controlling the ‘baby’. Shortly after the turn was completed, about two minutes, Kennedy and Willy removed the safety pin, arming the explosives and Kennedy radioed the agreed code 'Spade Flush'.
Two minutes later at 18.20 and well before the planned crew bailout near RAF Manston in Kent, the Torpex explosive detonated prematurely and destroyed the Liberator, killing Kennedy and Willy instantly. Wreckage landed near the village of Blythburgh in Suffolk causing widespread damage and small fires, but there were no injuries on the ground. The photo Mosquito flying 300 feet above and about 300 yards to the rear also suffered damage and minor injuries to its crew. It made an immediate emergency landing at RAF Halesworth in Suffolk, the base belonging to the 325th. Reconnaissance Wing.
Following the explosion, all the aircraft were ordered back to base and the crews were debriefed.
Drone operations were paused for a month while equipment was re-evaluated and modified, but there would be no further Navy missions. The Navy's informal board of review, discussing a number of theories, discounted the possibility of the crew making a mistake or that suspected jamming or a stray signal could have armed and detonated the explosives. An electronics officer, Earl Olsen, who believed the wiring harness had a design defect, had warned Kennedy of that possibility the day before the mission but was ignored. The actual cause of death of Kennedy and Willy still remain a mystery to this day.
Kennedy and Willy were both posthumously awarded the Navy Cross, the Air Medal, and the Purple Heart Medal. The names of both men are listed on the Tablets of the Missing at the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, a cemetery and chapel near the village of Madingley, Cambridgeshire, that commemorates American who died in World War II.
Lieutenant Joseph P. Kennedy Jnr., the older brother of President John F. Kennedy, was 29 years old and had no dependents but 35 year old Lieutenant Wilford J. Willy left a widow and three children.
This memorial from the from the village of Blythburgh is displayed in Holy Trinity Church, Blythburgh.
US Navy's WWII Operation Anvil
Operation Anvil was the World War II code name of US Navy operations to use Consolidated PB4Y-1 Liberator bombers as precision-guided munitions (drones) against bunkers and other reinforced enemy facilities. The plan called for war-weary PB4Y Liberators that had been taken out of operational service and modified to the new designation of BQ-8 to be loaded to capacity with explosives, and flown by radio control into bomb-resistant fortifications such as German U-boat pens and V-weapon sites.
Lieutenants Wilford John 'Bud' Willy (s/n O-137078) and Joseph Patrick Kennedy Jr. (s/n O-116667) were designated as the Navy's first Anvil flight crew. Willy was an expert in Radio Operations and procedures and the executive officer of Special Air Unit 1, he 'pulled rank' over Ensign James Simpson, who was Kennedy's regular co-pilot.
At RAF Fersfield, Norfolk on 12th. August 1944 Kennedy and Willy, both of the S.A.U. 1 of the Fleet Air Arm Wing Seven, boarded their 'baby', a BQ-8 drone aircraft, a converted B-24 Liberator, s/n 32271 (ex USAAF B-24J 42-110007) and began their preflight checks. The aircraft was filled with 21,270lbs of British Torpex (from 'Torpedo Explosive').
At 17:55 and 17:56 two Lockheed Ventura ‘mother’ aircraft took off followed by a B-17 Flying Fortress navigation aircraft all from RAF Fersfield. The ‘baby ’left at 18:07.
The ‘baby’ climbed to 2,000 ft, the two ‘mothers’ 200 ft. higher and slightly behind. They were joined by two de Havilland Mosquitos, one for monitoring the weather, and the second, a USAAF F-8 from the 8th. Combat Camera Unit (8 CCU) to photograph the ‘baby’. This aircraft was flown by pilot Lieutenant Robert A. Tunnel and combat camera man Lieutenant David J. McCarthy. There was also a Lockheed P-38 Lightning high altitude photo reconnaissance aircraft and four North American P-51 Mustangs, two each from the 55th. and 79th. FS's, 20 FG from Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire to provide fighter cover.
The group set off toward the target at Mimoyecques , Northern France. They were to fly south-east toward the Suffolk coast, then turn south and head toward the target. Once level and stabilised, Kennedy and Willy handed over control to one of the ‘mother’ ships Then they reached the first control point (CP) at which time the group began to turn south, the ‘mother’ controlling the ‘baby’. Shortly after the turn was completed, about two minutes, Kennedy and Willy removed the safety pin, arming the explosives and Kennedy radioed the agreed code 'Spade Flush'.
Two minutes later at 18.20 and well before the planned crew bailout near RAF Manston in Kent, the Torpex explosive detonated prematurely and destroyed the Liberator, killing Kennedy and Willy instantly. Wreckage landed near the village of Blythburgh in Suffolk causing widespread damage and small fires, but there were no injuries on the ground. The photo Mosquito flying 300 feet above and about 300 yards to the rear also suffered damage and minor injuries to its crew. It made an immediate emergency landing at RAF Halesworth in Suffolk, the base belonging to the 325th. Reconnaissance Wing.
Following the explosion, all the aircraft were ordered back to base and the crews were debriefed.
Drone operations were paused for a month while equipment was re-evaluated and modified, but there would be no further Navy missions. The Navy's informal board of review, discussing a number of theories, discounted the possibility of the crew making a mistake or that suspected jamming or a stray signal could have armed and detonated the explosives. An electronics officer, Earl Olsen, who believed the wiring harness had a design defect, had warned Kennedy of that possibility the day before the mission but was ignored. The actual cause of death of Kennedy and Willy still remain a mystery to this day.
Kennedy and Willy were both posthumously awarded the Navy Cross, the Air Medal, and the Purple Heart Medal. The names of both men are listed on the Tablets of the Missing at the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, a cemetery and chapel near the village of Madingley, Cambridgeshire, that commemorates American who died in World War II.
Lieutenant Joseph P. Kennedy Jnr., the older brother of President John F. Kennedy, was 29 years old and had no dependents but 35 year old Lieutenant Wilford J. Willy left a widow and three children.
This memorial from the from the village of Blythburgh is displayed in Holy Trinity Church, Blythburgh.