Operation TURNIP

P/O Smith takes off at 21.48 in Whitley Z9287 ‘Z’, for a target near Almelo, Holland. At 00.43 the Whitley was over the ‘exact pinpoint’, but both agents refused to jump. This would normally have resulted in a train warrant and an immediate ‘Return to Unit’ (except it would have been to SOE’s ‘cooler’), but their refusal was judged by ‘T’ Section to be justified, for the ground was covered by snow. There was no reception committee arranged to disguise their landing; in Holland the agents’ tracks away from the landing site would soon have been discovered.

‘TURNIP’ is Leonard Andringa, with Jan Molenaar his wireless-operator. Somehow Molenaar appears to have not been given an SOE codename, though otherwise his file is fairly comprehensive.

P/O Smith re-crossed the English coast at 02.27 and landed back at Stradishall at 03.04.

Sources

138 Operational Summary: TNA AIR20/8458=9
TNA HS9/1048/4 Jan Molenaar SOE Personal file