RUHR INDUSTRY AND RAILWAYS
99 aircraft - 39 Wellingtons, 36 Hampdens, 24 Whitleys - to 16 different targets in the Ruhr area. Factories at Dortmund, Sterkrade and Castrop-Rauxel were designated as targets for 9 aircraft each; all other targets had fewer aircraft. 81 aircraft reported bombing at their primary targets or at alternatives over a wide area. This was the first strategic bombing of German industry in the Second World War. No aircraft were shot down over Germany but 1 Wellington, of 115 Squadron, blown off course by an unexpected wind, crashed into high ground at Burney near Rouen in France. Flight Lieutenant A. E. Pringle and his 4 crewmen were all killed, the first R.A.F. casualties of the strategic bombing war.
A report from Cologne says that bombs aimed at the IG-Werk at Dormagen hit a large farm and killed a dairyman, Franz Romeike, who became Cologne's first airraid casualty, the first of approximately 20,000 Cologne people killed in air raids and artillery assault during the war. Another report says that Herr Romeike had switched on an outside light by mistake while on the way to the toilet and that this light promptly attracted a stick of high-explosive bombs. 5 more people in Cologne were wounded.
Another report, from Mnster, describes the dropping of 6 bombs in the town which caused light damage and wounded 2 people, although Mnster was not on the list of towns to be attacked and no bomber reported attacking it as an alternative. The Mnster report continues: 'This bombing created a sensation and, for days on end, thousands of inquisitive people were attracted to the scene.'
12 further aircraft - 6 Wellingtons, 6 Whitleys - attacked German communications in Belgium without loss. This brought the total number of aircraft operating on this night to 111, the first time that more than 100 bombers were dispatched on one occasion since the war began.
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GERMAN TARGETS
12 aircraft - 6 Hampdens and 6 Wellingtons - to oil targets in the Ruhr; 1 Wellington lost. 9 Whitleys to bomb communications between Germany and the battle front, no losses.
