page_title: Operation Oyster
section_title: Plan
hierarchical_section_title: Operation Oyster / Prelude / Plan
caption_attribution_description: English: Operation OYSTER, the daylight attack on the Philips radio and valve works at Eindhoven, Holland, by No. 2 Group. De Havilland Mosquito crews gather for a final briefing at Marham, Norfolk, before take off. Standing second from left is Wing Commander H I Edwards VC, Commanding Officer of No. 105 Squadron RAF and leader of the Mosquito force on the raid.
context_page_description: Operation Oyster was a bombing raid made by the Royal Air Force on 6 December 1942 upon the Philips works at Eindhoven, Netherlands. The Philips company was a major producer of electronics equipment, including vacuum tubes for radio communication. Prior to the Battle of the Netherlands in 1940, Philips was known to be a leading research firm in infrared and radar technology. To ensure accuracy and minimise casualties among the Dutch citizens, the raid had to be undertaken during the day.
  Eindhoven was beyond the range of the fighter escort and the four-engined night bombers that made up the bulk of RAF Bomber Command were considered to be too vulnerable for the attack. No. 2 Group RAF which contained the medium day bombers of the RAF were selected for the raid. To improve their chance of survival, diversionary raids were organised to mislead the German defenders. Almost all of 2 Group was committed to the raid and it was the largest and most successful operation by the group of the war.
context_section_description: The order for the attack and initial plan were issued 17 November 1942. Training for the raid began immediately. Wing Commander James Pelly-Fry of 88 Squadron was chosen to lead the attack. He was an experienced pilot who had flown in Africa and been in command of 88 Squadron since the start of the year. Pelly was to fly one of the two low level lead Bostons against the Emmasingel factory, and would be the first man to the target. Circus raids by 2 Group involved from six to 30 bombers, flying at medium altitudes and rendezvousing with their fighter escorts on the way. To strike with the element of surprise, the Eindhoven raid was to be flown at low level from start to finish. Low level flight would avoid radar detection, limit the exposure to anti-aircraft fire and make it more difficult for German fighters to attack.
  None of the crews had experience flying a mission in such a large formation, nor so low to the ground. The four types of bombers being used had different ranges and different top speeds. To overwhelm the defences at the target and limit losses it was planned that all aircraft would be over the target, deliver their bombs and be gone in ten minutes. This would require careful planning; the Venturas were the slowest, the Bostons and Mitchells intermediate and the Mosquitos the fastest. The plan was based on the constraints of the performance of the Venturas, which would be operating close to their maximum range at Eindhoven. The aircraft were to fly in pairs, in echelon formation to starboard. As many as six aircraft could be grouped but no more as formation flying was awkward and made it difficult for any kind of manoeuvre. The big problem was getting a large group of aircraft to arrive at precise times. Formation flying was not new to the group but large formation flying at tree top level was. The attacking force was made up of 48 Venturas from 21 Squadron, 464 (Australian) Squadron and 487 (New Zealand) Squadron, 36 Bostons from 88 Squadron, 107 Squadron and 226 Squadron and ten Mosquitos from 105 and 139 Squadrons.
  Though different speed ranges were assigned to the aircraft based on type, all aircraft were to approach, attack and leave the target at their maximum speed. Twelve Bostons, ten Mosquitos and thirty-one Venturas were to strike the main target at the Strijp Group works as twenty-four Bostons and seventeen Venturas were to attack the Emmasingel radio tube factory half a mile to the south-east of the main complex. The Boston and Mosquito bombers would carry four 500 lb (227 kg) high explosive bombs, fuzed for 0.025 seconds delay to minimise the tendency for the bombs to slide away from the target before exploding. Once the aircraft had released their bombs they were to hedge-hop home at full speed. It was decided after the third trial that a Boston from each squadron would fly at low level all the way to the target to draw the attention of German Flak gunners down and away from the larger force that was climbing up to 1,500 feet behind them. The low flyers' four 500 lb (230 kg) bombs were to be fuzed for eleven seconds' delay to prevent the aircraft from being caught in the explosions. The Venturas following them would each carry forty 30 lb (14 kg) incendiary bombs and two 250 lb (113 kg) high explosive bombs. The incendiaries were phosphorus, which would stick to whatever they struck and burn. The two 250 lb (113 kg) high explosive bombs on the Venturas were to be fuzed for 30 or 60 minutes' delay, to hamper or injure the firefighters and rescue workers.
  The Mosquitos would follow the Bostons on the same route, while the Venturas were to fly slightly to the south before turning towards Eindhoven. The three groups were to arrive over the target in close succession. The attack was to be concluded within the span of 10 minutes. The Bostons were to release bombs at zero hour, which was set for 12:30 p.m. They were to be followed by the Mosquitos at zero plus 2 minutes and the Venturas would drop their bombs and incendiaries at zero plus 6 minutes. The Venturas were to turn west after they had bombe
caption: Final briefing, RAF Marham, Norfolk
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