Wilbert George Dodd

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RCAF FIGHTERS DESTROY 24 ENEMY PLANES

London, October 3, 1943 - (CP) - Hitting hard at Hitler's Western European aerial defenses, Fighter Command aircraft shot down 24 enemy fighters over occupied territory today, with Canadian aces bagging nine of the total.
Flt. Sgt. H.W. Bowker of Granby, Que., and FO. Art Coles of Vancouver led the Canadians by blasting two Germans each. Others fell to Sqdn. Leader R.W. McNair of North Battleford, who got his 16th victim in leading the Canadian Red Indian Squadron, Wing Cmdr. L.V. Chadburn of Aurora, FO. W.G. Dodd of Winnipeg, FO. Frank Packard of Montreal, and PO. John Hicks of Ottawa.
The Canadians, providing a strong escort for day-long bombing raids, met and bested the Nazis in a series of heavy dogfights in which, as Sqdn. Leader G.E.W. Northcott of Minnedosa, Man., commented, "The Jerries were in a scrapping mood for once." Two Canadian planes were lost.
Scattered 28 ME-109's
The biggest fight involved the City of Winnipeg and City of Oshawa Squadrons which ran into
30 Messerschmitt 109's and scattered them after 20 minutes when Chadburn and Dodd sent two German planes down to earth spiraling smoke.
Coles, former Dominion downhill ski champion, destroyed two Focke-Wulf 190's in separate engagements, blowing the wing off one. Packard's victory, his first, was scored by riddling his foe at the top of two barrel rolls the German made before Packard's Spitfire. Bowkers' pair came in a scrap between his squadron and 15 Focke-Wulf 190's near the French coast.
Besides McNair's victim the Red Indian squadron shot down two other planes—making a total of three of the seven Nazis destroyed by fighters escorting bombers on the Holland airfields attack. McNair's engine gave out as the enemy went down, and as McNair attempted to glide over the Channel he dropped 9,000 feet before the engine started again. This was the third time he experienced trouble. Once he glided home all the way from France after the engine failed, and another time he was forced to bail out over the English Channel.

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Big Blows Delivered Against Kassel and Frankfurt By Allies

R.A.F. and Canadians Lose 28 Bombers in Assault Made During Night
London, Oct. 4, 1943 — (CP) — R.A.F. and Canadian heavy bombers hit Kassel, 91 miles northeast of Frankfurt, last night in the fourth big blow in six months against that manufacturing center for Nazi fighter planes, locomotives and other important war machines, it was announced today.
Aircraft from the Canadian bomber group were out in considerable numbers.
The assault was officially described as heavy. It cost 24 bombers.
Four of the missing bombers were Canadian. The R.C.A.F. participation in the raid was by Halifax bombers and their crews reported the bombing was well concentrated with many large fires started. At the same time Canadian Mosquitoes made intruder patrols over northern France and the Low Countries, without loss.
Today in daylight, American heavy bombers supported by long-range fighters swept into Germany and attacked targets in Frankfurt, which is 91 miles southwest of Kassel.
Today's raid by the American bombers and their escorts was the first daylight attack of the war on Frankfurt.
Split Enemy Defences
The twin blows followed the now-familiar Allied strategy of splitting the German defences, as the cities lie less than 100 miles apart, one east of the Ruhr and the other southeast.
While the R.A.F. and R.C.A.F. heavy bombers were delivering last night's major raid, light Mosquitoes dropped explosives on Hanover, 160 miles west of Berlin, in the second blow at that industrial city in six days. It was raided in force by the R.A.F. and R.C.A.F. on September 27.
Three enemy patrol boats in the Bordeaux area were damaged, mines were scattered through enemy shipping lanes and a Junkers-88 was shot down by still other Mosquitoes ranging the French Channel coast.
Five hundred tons of bombs were dropped Saturday night on Munich, the Nazi party's birthplace and a main supply outlet from southern Germany into Italy. The industrial city of Hagen was attacked Friday night.
The British-Canadian smash at Munich highlighted the obvious Allied intention to subject all of Germany to a two-directional air offensive from Britain and eventually from Italy—for it followed by less than 48 hours the first American heavy bomber raid on the same city from northwest African bases.
The American attack on Munich was carried out in daylight Friday simultaneously with a similar raid on a Messerschmitt factory at Wiener-Neustadt near Vienna. A communiqué announced significantly that both formations had been transferred recently to the Northwest African Air Command from Britain and the Middle East.
Heavy bombers, escorted by fighters, smashed at northwestern Germany by daylight Saturday and attacked port installations at Emden. Then, rounding out the week-end offensive, R.A.F. and Allied medium bombers swept out in daylight yesterday and attacked enemy airfields and other installations in France and Holland.
Besides battering airfields, these armadas bit another chunk from Hitler's western European aerial defences as escorting fighters knocked down 24 enemy planes, of which nine fell to Canadians. An Air Ministry official said this was the greatest number ever destroyed by the R.A.F. and R.C.A.F. in one day's offensive over enemy territory.
Top scorers in the weekend scrambles were Flt. Sgt. H.W. Bowker, of Granby, Que., and F.O. Art Coles, of Vancouver, who got two Germans each. Others were credited to Sqdn. Ldr. R.W. (Buck) McNair, of North Battleford, Sask., who hung up his 16th victory; Wing-Cmdr. L.V. Chadburn, of Aurora, Ont.; F.O. W.G. Dodd, of Winnipeg; F.O. Frank Packard, of Montreal, and P.O. John Hicks of Ottawa.
German fighters were out in force to combat the heavy weekend blows and put up some heavy dogfights. Summing it up, Sqdn. Ldr. G.E.W. Northcott, of Minnedosa, Man., said, "The Jerries were in a scrapping mood for once."
Two Canadian planes were lost of a total Allied loss of 11.

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DODD, F/O Wilbert George (J15740) - Distinguished Flying Cross - No.402 Squadron
Award effective 21 October 1943 as per London Gazette dated 5 November 1943 and
AFRO 2507/43 dated 3 December 1943.

This officer has completed a large number of sorties, many of them in the Middle East. He is a fine leader whose great skill and fighting qualities have proved an inspiration to all. Flying Officer Dodd has destroyed at least four enemy aircraft. His excellent work during a recent patrol contributed materially to the rescue of ten airmen who were adrift on the sea.

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--- Canadian Aces ---

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