Lysanders: Special Planes for Special Missions

 

The odd-looking Lysander airplanes had a braced high wing, a separate rear cockpit for an observer or gunner, fixed landing gear with large, streamlined wheel fairings called “spats,” and a massive air-cooled radial engine driving a three-bladed propeller. Before the war, ungainly aircraft were used mainly for patrolling coastal areas, towing targets, and spotting downed aircraft in the English Channel—unimportant duties in the opinion of most RAF airmen, who, unaware of the planes’ spying activities, looked down on their colleagues who flew them. In August 194, however, the Lysander found its ultimate mission, with the formation of 138 Squadron (Special Duties). Painted flat black for night operations and fitted with extra fuel tanks for extended range, the plane could land and take off from tiny improvised airstrips in Nazi-occupied Europe. In fact, the Lysanders’ work under the Royal Air Force Special Duties Service was top secret, dangerous, and essential to the war effort.

 

Performing missions for the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and the Secret Intelligence Service, their primary role was to drop and collect secret agents and equipment into and from Nazi-occupied Europe. Missions were limited to periods around the full moon, so that pilots would have enough light to navigate, using only a compass, watch, and map. Up to three passengers could cram into the rear cockpit but not comfortably. SOE established secret facilities for 138 Squadron and later 161 at RAF Newmarket in Suffolk, along with 357 Squadron in Bengal, India. The flyers consisted of an elite group of all-volunteer pilots who flew the tiny planes, known as “Lizzies.” The Lysanders were slow and had no guns, making them vulnerable to German fighter planes and antiaircraft batteries. 

 

Of the 418 SOE agents deployed on these missions, 118 were killed. One was 23-year old Violette Szabo, reputedly the best shot in SOE. In April 1944, she flew aboard a Lysander into a field near Rouen, France, evaluated the capability of the local resistance to support the Normandy invasion, and was successfully extracted. On a later mission she was captured by SS troops and executed.

 

Flights of the 161 Squadron could last as long as eight hours roundtrip, took place only at night. Since the Lysanders lacked navigation equipment, the pilots relied on light from the moon to locate small landing fields that appeared no larger from the air than a pocket handkerchief and to see the terrain clearly enough to make a safe landing while looking out for enemy aircraft. The landing spots were lit only by flashlights operated by members of the resistance.

 

Nonetheless, 161 Squadron embraced the challenges they faced. The iconoclastic and buccaneering crew, few of whom were RAF officers, had little use for military rules or discipline. One of the unit’s top pilots, Peter Vaughan-Fowler, joined the squadron at age 19 and loved jazz and performing daredevil acrobatic stunts over the village near the squadron’s airfield.

 

“We were all different, and our greatest common factor must have been our individualism,” according to Hugh Verity, a French-speaking Oxford graduate named the unit’s leader at age 24. Said he, “I was very pleased to find myself in a job where I could make an operational contribution to the war without killing people. It was also much more satisfying to carry people than bombs—especially when the people one carried were such outstanding personalities.”

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As the war progressed, the Lysander pilots forged tight bonds with many of the French citizens they ferried between France and England. Of all of the Brits based in England who dealt with the French during the war, the men of 161 Squadron probably developed the most personal relationships with them, sharing their dangers, rejoicing in their successes, and grieving for them when they got nabbed by the Nazis. But the closeness between the two groups could also be explained by the similarities in their personalities. During and after the war, both groups expressed admiration for the courage and dedication of the other. According to Verity, he and the other pilots “were only vulnerable to the enemy on the ground for a few minutes at a time, they were at risk for months and years on end. It was they and their invaluable work that justified this unusual type of air taxi service.”

 

French resistance members followed a strict routine when connecting with flights of the 161 Squadron. When a Lizzie approached a field, three team members positioned themselves in the shape of an L on the field. The pilot would be flying low, at about 1,500 feet, allowing him to distinguish features of the landscape. As he came near, he would flash a prearranged Morse code signal with his plane’s signal light. If a resistance member, using a flashlight, responded with a prearranged signal of his own, the pilot would prepare to land. If the pilot did not see the correct signal, he had to return to base. If the codes panned out, the other team members used flashlights mounted on sticks to guide the pilot in. 

 

After touching down near the first light, the pilot would turn at the second light, then stop at the third, positioning for takeoff. At this point, any baggage on board would be expelled, and its passengers—three at most—would climb down a ladder fixed to the side of the Lizzie. Sacks of documents, maps, samples of new weapons, oils, and gases used by the Germans, among other items, would be quickly loaded, along with the baggage of any incoming passengers, who would then board.  Speediness was emphasized, the operation lasting no more than 10 minutes from landing to takeoff. 

 

About 25 Lysanders were transferred to the U.S. Army Air Corps. They also served with the Free French Air Force and in Turkey, India, Egypt, and other countries. Most were withdrawn from service in 1946, but Egyptian Lysanders flew against Israel in the 1948 war. A total of 1,786 Lysanders were built. Perhaps a dozen survive, with a restored example in the markings of RAF 138 Squadron hanging near the main entrance of the National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia, United States.