ROYAN
347 Lancasters and 7 Mosquitoes of 1, 5 and 8 Groups. 4 Lancasters were lost and 2 more collided behind Allied lines in France and crashed.
This was a tragic raid with a strange - and disputed - background. Royan was a town situated at the mouth of the River Gironde in which a stubborn German garrison was still holding out, preventing the Allies from using the port of Bordeaux. The task of besieging the town had been given to 12,000 men of the French Resistance commanded by Free French officers appointed by General de Gaulle. The commander of the German garrison recognized the Resistance units as regular forces and the normal rules of warfare were observed. The French, lacking artillery, made little progress with their siege. The German commander gave the inhabitants of the town the opportunity to leave but many preferred to stay in order to look after their homes. It is believed that there were 2,000 civilians at the time of the raid.
The request that Bomber Command should attack the town has a tortuous background and it must be stressed that the version given here may be disputed by some of the participants. On
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LUDWIGSHAFEN
160 Lancasters of 3 Group attacked the railway-yards area. 2 Lancasters lost.
The local report shows that the railways were hit but bombs also fell in the northern suburbs of Ludwigshafen, which were partially industrial in nature, and in nearby villages. 535 houses and 87 industrial buildings were destroyed or seriously damaged and 3,500 people were bombed out. 267 people were killed, of whom no less than 229 were foreign workers or prisoners of war.
1 Hudson flew a Resistance operation.
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HANNOVER
664 aircraft - 340 Halifaxes, 310 Lancasters, 14 Mosquitoes - of 1, 4, 6 and 8 Groups. 23 Halifaxes and 8 Lancasters lost, 4.7 percent of the force.
This was the first large raid on Hannover since October 1943. Bombs fell all over the city and the local report, based on messages from 16 of the 18 police districts, shows that 493 buildings, containing 3,605 flats/apartments, were destroyed and that approximately 250 people were killed. No further details are available.
HOUFFALIZE
131 Lancasters and 9 Mosquitoes of 5 Group attacked this bottleneck in the German supply system in the Ardennes. The target was bombed with great accuracy. 2 Lancasters lost.
Minor Operations: 69 Mosquitoes to Berlin, 8 to Neuss and 6 to Castrop-Rauxel, 58 R.C.M. sorties, 55 Mosquito patrols. 4 Mosquitoes lost, 2 from the Berlin raid and 2 from 100 Group.
Total effort for the night: 1,000 sorties, 37 aircraft (3.7 percent) lost.
