On July 12th, Cheshire formally handed over No 617 Squadron to Tait and asked for a receipt. He handed Tait a piece of paper on which was written RECEIVED WITH THANKS.No 617 Squadron IN PERFECT ORDER. Tait obliged by signing the receipt, which Cheshire pasted into his flying log as the final entry. With the magnificent work done by Cheshire to improve bombing and marking techniques, aside from his own operational flying, an appropriate award was discussed. Unknown to Cheshire, Woodhall Spa's Station Commander Grp Capt ' Monty ' Phillpot wrote to AVM Cochrane suggesting a third bar to his DSO. However as the recommendation moved up the chain of command it altered. On September 9th came the official announcement of the awarding of a Victoria Cross to Cheshire. Perhaps in keeping with 617's unique achievements, Cheshires citation was unique as well, in that it was not awarded for a single act of bravery as was the norm but for 'a sustained campaign of bombing operations and the development and advancement of marking techniques'. On July 17th Tait got to lead his first mission, against the giant V2 factory and launch site at Wizernes. Known as La Coupole 'The Dome' if completed this would have been the largest manmade underground structure on Earth. However after this and three subsequent visits by No 617 Sq, the complex and surrounding area bore more than a passing resemblance to the surface of the Moon and was abandoned. A familiar cycle of operations planned and then cancelled due to bad weather dogged the rest of July with only two missions flown. One to the V-weapons store at Watten which brought outstanding results, and one to Rilly la Montagne to bomb a railway tunnel used for storing V-1's and components. Again a very successful raid that sealed both ends of the tunnel and destroyed much of the surrounding rail network and approach roads. However, on this raid Flt Lt Bill Reid VC suffered two strikes from bombs dropped by an aircraft above him. One bomb removed both port engines, the other sliced straight through the fuselage. The aircraft plummeted earthwards, breaking up as it tumbled, Reid and his wireless operator were thrown clear but the rest of his crew perished when the bomber struck the ground. August opened with strikes against the rail infrastructure around Etaples, and U-Boat pens at Brest and La Pallice. A raid on the U-Boat pens at Lorient was aborted when US troops were reported on the outskirts of the town preparing to advance on the target. The difficulty and high cost of producing 'Tallboys' had led to an order they were only to be dropped in perfect or near perfect visibility, to minimize waste. With 99% of missions now flown in daylight target marking became unnecessary and so Tait had the Mustangs redeployed and the Mosquitos re-tasked as a reconnaissance asset over the target. On August 12th, Tait reverted to flying a Lancaster, and carried a Tallboy for the first time on a return to the U-Boat pens at Brest. Two further raids on Brest harbour with 'Tallboy' and 2,000 lb armour piercing bombs saw the sinking of the French warships Gueydon and Clementau at their moorings. This prevented the Germans from moving and then sinking them to block the harbour entrance. Such anti-shipping strikes would normally have been carried out by Coastal Command, but for 617 Squadron this was more practice, for another 'Big Show'.... http://www.v2rocket.com/start/deployment/wizernes.html