MINOR OPERATIONS
46 Mosquitoes to Berlin, 8 to Wiesbaden and 4 to Heilbronn. 1 aircraft lost from the Berlin raid.
---
WANNE-EICKEL
111 Halifaxes and 26 Lancasters of 6 and 8 Groups attacked the oil plant. A direct hit on a storage tank early in the raid produced dense cloud and smoke which hindered later bombing. A German report says that the refinery itself was not seriously damaged but that the GAVEG chemical factory was destroyed; it is possible that the bombers were aiming at the wrong target. The report also states that 24 buildings were hit in nearby housing areas and that 103 German civilians, 2 foreign workers and 1 prisoner of war were killed, most of them being in makeshift 'earth shelters'
43. A Halifax of 6 Group attacking the Wanne-Eickel oil refinery, which is covered by smoke, on
---
.
RIVER SCHELDT GUN BATTERIES
86 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitoes of 1 and 8 Groups attacked a battery near Breskens and destroyed 2 of the 4 gun positions. No aircraft lost.
Minor Operations: 3 R.C.M. sorties, 1 Hudson on a Resistance operation. No losses.
44. A railway-mounted Flak battery on the coast. The white rings around the barrels of the main guns represent eleven R.A.F. bombers claimed as shot down by this battery - a Wellington, a Stirling, six Halifaxes and three Lancasters.
---
MOSQUITO OPERATIONS
Mosquitoes went to bomb the following targets: Hamburg, 52 aircraft; DÜSSELDORF and Wiesbaden, 6 aircraft each; Koblenz, 4 aircraft; Schweinfurt, 2 aircraft. 1 aircraft lost from the Hamburg raid.
