A force of 18 Avengers of 846 and 852 Sqdn "Trumpeter", together with an escort of fourteen Seafires from "Furious", took off for a mine laying operation at Åram this morning. The force was lead by Lt.Cmdr. Bobby Head of 846 Squadron.
They discovered half a dozen ships in the sound and were met by heavy ground fire from both the ships and the fortress a Åram.
Four of the Seafires received hits, but only Glennies A/C went down. The mines were sucessfully dropped in the sound.
The Germans lost 32 men and 46 wounded. V5307 exploded and sank. V5309 and V5105 were heavily damaged.
Source: Flyalarm
801 Sqdn. FAA "HMS Furious" serial NF552 12.09 1944
"Operation Begonia" Mine drop in Åramsundet. Sub.Lt.Michael Aubrey Glennie (KIA) was shot down by ground fire from the German batteriesLog book of Leslie Dunbar. He was on "Trumpeter" that had
sailed from Orkney.
Log entry for the day: 12/9/44 AVENGER FN838 -B. Pilot S/Lt Bill Black, air
gunner. P/O Stocker and navigator Leslie
Dunbar. Flying time was 2hrs .05