The Sylt Raid of 19 March 1940 - a contemporary newspaper report

April 5th 1940    

From Scapa to Sylt: The R.A.F. Hits Back

A few days before Easter there was a raid by the Nazis on Scapa, followed swiftly by a return visit to Sylt by bombers of the R.A.F. Here is the story of the two raids.

On the evening of Saturday, March 16, fourteen Nazi bombers, including the new Junkers J.U. 88, flew 550 miles over the North Sea to the British naval base at Scapa Flow – where twenty-one years ago the German Grand Fleet came to such an ignominious end – and attempted to bomb units of the Royal Navy which happened to be there.

A map showing Scapa Flow in the Orkneys, just off northern Scotland.

The Nazi bombers arrived just at sunset, and in the words of a German pilot who took part in the raid, “the jaws of Hell opened” the moment they were sighted. Searchlights pierced the gathering gloom and battery after battery of anti-aircraft guns opened fire, belching tons of high-explosive shells into the air. For an hour the Nazi pilots held to their objective; altogether they dropped nearly a hundred bombs, but the only damage they were able to do was to damage slightly one warship, killing seven of the personnel. As soon as British fighter planes arrived on the scene, the raiders turned tail. In their hurry to get away from the withering fire of their pursuers the Germans jettisoned their remaining bombs. Nine-teen of these bombs fell on targets which had no military significance whatsoever, damaging cottages and roads and killing a 27-year-old County Council employee, James Isbister - the first civilian to be killed in a raid  on Britain in the present war.

The Nazis gloated over the raid. They claimed to have hit the “Hood,” the “Repulse” and the “Renown”; they talked of “intensified air attacks” on England, of "German military superiority.” Because they did not wait to obtain the true facts, or because they did not wish to give them, the German propaganda department was able to broadcast a fantastic account of the raid hours before the British version was released. For some inexplicable reason even the most staid and trustworthy of the American newspapers believed the German story – for a few hours, until the British Admiralty announcement was forthcoming.

For three days Germany was allowed to boast of her successes, of her air might and what she would do to Britain. Then the R.A.F. stole the limelight.

Above and below: The cottages hit during the German raid on Scapa Flow were at Bridge of Waith. One man was killed, with five men and two women needing hospital treatment for wounds.

Wave after Wave on Sylt        

At 8p.m., on March 19, the first wave of R.A.F. bombers dived out of the clouds over the island of Sylt, the German base off the coast of Denmark from which came the seaplane minelayers. For seven hours the attack lasted, our bombers attacking singly in relays, so that by the time some of the ‘planes had just reached their objective’ others had already arrived back home.

The first British bombers arrived over Sylt in brilliant moonlight, swooped down on their objective at a terrifying speed, and dropped their bombs with machine-like accuracy. Then, as the first bombers flew away, their work done, and the second wave approached, guided by the fires that had been started, warning sirens wailed over the island and a wall of anti-aircraft fire was pumped into the air. But nothing would deter these grim-faced men of the R.A.F. The only German fighter ‘plane that attempted to battle with the raiders was driven away by one of the bombers’ rear gunners.

A map of Sylt showing the location of the aerodrome that was bombed.

The attack had been planned by Air Chief Marshal Sir Edgar Ludlow-Hewitt, the Commander-in-Chief of the R.A.F. Bomber Command – the man who had planned the raid on Kiel and Wilhelmshaven at the beginning of the war- and the R.A.F. intended to carry out his plan to the letter.

Among the crews of the ‘planes engaged were 14 Canadians, 7 New Zealanders, 7 Australians, a South African, and several Irishmen – a truly Imperial partnership.

Determined that this time there should be no delay in giving the news to the world, the Air Ministry arranged with the bomber squadrons that the progress of the raid should be radioed home in code as it was happening. So as the bombs were dropping, blowing to pieces aeroplane hangars, seaplane slipways, roads, and railway sheds, and as terrific explosions following a hit on an ammunition dump rocked the island, a matter-of-fact account of the havoc being wrought was flashed back to England, and Mr Chamberlain was able to say that the attack was at its height even as he spoke in the House of Commons.

An RAF reconnaissance photo taken in 1938 with annotations added.

Watchers from the nearby Danish island of Roemo described the scene as “like a firework display.” A Danish innkeeper who watched the attack for hours said that shortly after 8.40 all the anti-aircraft guns on the island seemed to go into action at once. They started firing frenziedly and were using tracer projectiles of all colours. He watched until 11 o’clock, by which time he had counted eighty-five bombs dropped.

But the raid went on for hours after the Danish innkeeper had grown tired of watching, and gone home to bed. Not until 6.30 on the morning of March 20 did the last ‘plane in the raid land in England, and only one of our machines failed to return safely.

One observer counted 200 bombs dropped; and of these very few failed to reach their objective. Railway lines and a barrack block were hit; the seaplane base of Hornum – the principle objective – at the southernmost extremity of Sylt, was plastered with tons of bombs; the crew of one bomber saw five of their bombs fall near a jetty; fires were started all over the island, and another bomber reported a direct hit on a sea-plane slipway.

Of course the Nazis maintained that the attack on Sylt had been an utter failure. They asserted at first that only one house had been hit, and a little later they substituted “military hospital” for “house.”

All the German newspapers published a balance sheet of the Scapa and Sylt raids, according to which the damage done by the Nazi bombers to Scapa Flow – one British battleship “as good as destroyed,” two battleships and one cruiser seriously damaged, two more big ships seriously damaged, damage to three aerodromes and anti-aircraft batteries – amounted to £34,230,550! On the debit side of the account the raid on Sylt represented a German loss of £97 only, made up of one damaged house roof £60, one rifle range to be repaired £9, and window panes broken to the extent of £28!

Here we see some of the British airmen who took part in the raid on Sylt.