ESSEN
4 Pathfinder Mosquitoes and 55 Lancasters of 1 and 5 Groups. 1 Lancaster lost.
The Oboe equipment of the first Mosquito to arrive failed and the other 3 Mosquitoes were all late. Because of this, many of the Lancasters bombed on dead reckoning. Some bombs did fall in Essen, where 20 houses were destroyed or seriously damaged and 9 people were killed, but other bombs fell in Neviges, Remscheid, Solingen and Wuppertal, a group of towns 12-20 miles south of Essen. 19 people were killed in Remscheid.
Minor Operations: 32 aircraft minelaying off Biscay ports, 5 O.T.U. sorties. No losses.
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36 aircraft of 2 Group - 18 Venturas, 12 Bostons, 6 Mosquitoes - attacked airfield and railway targets in France. 6 Wellingtons laid mines in the Frisian Islands. No aircraft lost.
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ESSEN
3 Mosquitoes and 66 Lancasters. 4 Lancasters lost.
The Oboe Mosquitoes were again in trouble. 2 aircraft had to return without marking and the sky-markers of the third aircraft failed to ignite above the cloud. German aircraft also appeared to have dropped decoy flares to distract the Lancasters. Despite all this, Essen reports a sharp raid with 52 buildings destroyed and 67 seriously damaged. 20 of the buildings destroyed were wooden hutments for workers. 63 people were killed, including 11 French prisoners of war and 6 other foreigners, and 113 people were injured.
This raid concluded the recent series of Oboe Mosquito trials.
