LE CREUSOT
290 aircraft of 3, 4, 6 and 8 Groups - 181 Halifaxes, 107 Stirlings, 2 Lancasters - to bomb the Schneider armaments factory and the Breuil steelworks. 2 Halifaxes lost.
The tactics for this raid were that the Pathfinders would only drop flares and that each crew of the Main Force was to identify their part of the target by the light of these flares. The Main Force crews were then to make 2 runs over the target area, dropping a short stick of bombs on each run from altitudes between 5,000 and 10,000 ft. By this stage of the war, however, Main Force crews were used to bombing target indicators and many had difficulty in making a visual identification of their target. Lingering smoke from the large number of flares was blamed for most of the difficulty. Bombing photographs showed that all crews bombed within 3 miles of the centre of the target but only about one fifth managed to hit the factories. Many bombs fell on nearby residential property but no report could be obtained from France to give details of casualties.
MONTCHANIN
26 of the H2S-equipped Pathfinders who had released flares at Le Creusot were intended to fly on to drop flares over the electrical-transformer station at Montchanin. By the light of these flares, a further 26 Lancaster bombers of 8 Group were to attack this second target. Most of the attacking crews, however, mistook a small metal factory for the transformer station and bombed that target instead. A few aircraft did identify the correct target but their bombs scored no hits on it.
Minor Operations: 6 Mosquitoes to Cologne, Duisburg and DÜSSELDORF, 12 Lancasters of 3 Group minelaying in the River Gironde. 1 Lancaster was lost.
Total effort for the night: 334 sorties, 3 aircraft (0.9 percent) lost.
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FRIEDRICHSHAFEN
60 Lancasters to attack the Zeppelin works at Friedrichshafen, on the shores of Lake Constance (the Bodensee). This factory made Wrzburg radar sets which were an important part of the German-fighter interception boxes through which Bomber Command had to fly every time they attacked a target in Germany.
This was a special raid with interesting and novel tactics. Like the recent Dams Raid, the attack was to be 'controlled' by the pilot of one of the Lancasters. This feature would later be known as 'the Master Bomber' technique. The plan was formulated by 5 Group which provided the Master Bomber - Group Captain L. C. Slee - and nearly all of the aircraft involved; the Pathfinders sent 4 Lancasters of 97 Squadron. Group Captain Slee's aircraft developed engine trouble and he handed over to his deputy, Wing Commander G. L. Gomm of 467 Squadron. The attack, like the recent raid on Le Creusot, was intended to be carried out from 5,000 to 10,000 ft in bright moonlight, but the Flak and searchlight defences were very active and Wing Commander Gomm ordered the bombing force to climb a further 5,000 ft. Unfortunately the wind at the new height was stronger than anticipated and this caused difficulties.
The bombing was in 2 parts. The first bombs were aimed at target indicators dropped by one of the Pathfinder aircraft. The second phase was a 'time-and-distance' bombing run from a point on the shores of the lake to the estimated position of the factory. This was a technique which 5 Group was developing. Photographic reconnaissance showed that nearly 10 percent of the bombs hit the small factory and that much damage was caused there. Nearby factories were also hit. 44 people are known to have been killed in Friedrichshafen.
The bomber force confused the German night fighters waiting for the return over France by flying on in the first shuttle raid to North Africa. No Lancasters were lost.
Minor Operations: 4 Mosquitoes to Berlin and 1 to DÜSSELDORF, 15 aircraft minelaying off La Pallice and in the River Gironde. 3 O.T.U. sorties. No losses.
