The German cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau entered the occupied harbour of Brest in France after a sortie into the Atlantic to disrupt commerce. There, they were the target of ongoing attacks by RAF Bomber Command, including 218 (Gold Coast) Squadron.
By the 24th of July, 1941, Pilot Officer Morrisson Jolly of 218 was a veteran pilot, having completed 19 missions. As part of a force of 3 Boeing B-17s, 56 Wellingtions and 18 Handley-Page Hampdens, he flew his twin-engined Wellington bomber to Brest and did not return. It was a daylight raid without fighter escort.
from an online history of 218 Squadron (https://218squadron.wordpress.com/history/) I can share this account of Morrisson's last mission:
A plan had been prepared for a major assault on the German cruisers at Brest, and this was to take place by daylight on the 24th. On the 23rd, the Scharnhorst was spotted at La Pallice, two hundred miles further south, and it was decided, that she should be attacked by Halifaxes, while the original plan went ahead at Brest. Three Fortresses from 2 Group’s 90 Squadron were to lead the operation by bombing from very high level. It was hoped that they, and a diversion by Hampdens under a Spitfire escort at a less rarified altitude, would draw off sufficient enemy fighters, to allow seventy nine Wellingtons from 1 and 3 Groups to bomb unopposed. In the event, the fighter and flak opposition was more fierce than anticipated, and the Wellington crews had to run the gauntlet as they made their final approach. In return for six unconfirmed hits on the Gneisenau, ten Wellingtons were shot down, and one of them was a 218 Squadron aircraft. R1726 was observed to carry out an attack, before crashing into the sea in the target area, killing P/O Jolly and three of his crew, while two others survived to be taken into captivity. It was P/O Jolly’s nineteenth operation. The squadron had contributed six aircraft, along with three from 115 Squadron, to form three sections.
In 1942 the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau took part in the "Channel Dash," which took them to safety in Germany. In 1943, while operating against Arctic convoys to Russia, Scharnhorst was finally taken on and sunk by a larger Royal Navy force.
Morrisson Jolly has no known grave and is commemorated at the Bomber Command Memorial at Runnymede and in Wallacetown Cemetery.
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