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The V1 and V2 rocket attacks on England during 1944/1945 were debilitating to say the least, and were to do damage both mentally and physically, and so effective were they that the attacks on London became known as the “Second Blitz“. One of the many airmen involved in hunting down and destroying the relevant rocket launching sites (known as “Operation Crossbow", November 1943-May 1945) was a South African from Witbank, Transvaal,  namely Wing-Commander Lewis Alan Lynn, Royal Air Force.  Lynn had initially attended the South African Training Ship (SATS) "General Botha" from 1932 - 1933 before joining the RAF, and by 1944 was operating with No 320 (Netherlands) Squadron, RAF, flying B25 Mitchell twin-engined bombers. A contemporary article published at the time was to write of him: 

“A well-known South African bomber pilot skilled in the art of precision bombing was out this morning helping to smash the launching platforms [in Northern France] from which the Germans are sending their flying bombs across Southern England. He is Wing Commander L.A. Lynn, of Witbank, operating with a Mitchell bomber group of the Second Tactical Air Force [2nd TAF]. Described as one of the most experienced pilots in the group, Lynn led to-day’s assault by the R.A.F. and Dutch Mitchell bomber crews on the flying bomb installations; it was his 85th operational trip.”

“On his return he said: ‘Visibility  was good, and our bombs fell in the target area all right.’ He and his group sought out skilfully camouflaged installations in the Pas de Calais area and the Mitchells hit their targets  squarely despite accurate and persistent flak, some of which tailed the bombers out to the coast on their homeward trip. Flak was thick in the target areas, indicating the importance the enemy attaches to safeguarding the rocket sites. Another “secret weapon” was used against our planes without effect. This consisted of a square box-like missile fired into the air to burst and scatter long strips of silvery and apparently metallic substance, possibly designed to foul the propellors [sic], but it was completely ineffective.”

Wing-Commander Lynn  was  to serve with marked distinction during the war, and was awarded the DSO (1944) and Bar (1944), and the DFC (1942), as well as the Dutch “Bronze Lion” award (November 1944), having flown with No‘s 107 and 320 (Netherlands) Squadrons‘, RAF. His London Gazette citations read as follows:

May and June 1940 were rather dismal months for the Allies during the war, with ill-fated campaigns in Norway and France (which was redeemed at least in part by the heroic evacuation from the beaches of Dunkirk), and even that early in the war, and just prior to the Battle of Britain,  southern Africans were already making a name for themselves. Three intrepid airmen hailing from southern Africa and serving with the Royal Air Force (RAF) who were to be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC’s) in June 1940, and who were mentioned in the “South Africa” periodical at that time include:

A Lockheed Hudson approaches Dunkirk on a reconnaissance patrol
         during the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force
      from the port in May-June 1940 (IWM Collection)