BERLIN
201 aircraft - 190 Lancasters, 11 Halifaxes - from the Pathfinders and 1, 4 and 5 Groups were dispatched on this interesting raid - the first attack on Berlin for 14 months, the first use of proper 'target indicators' and the use of an all 4-engined bombing force. Stirlings were withdrawn from an original plan so that only the higher-flying Lancasters and Halifaxes would participate. Most of the force was provided by 5 Group.
The raid was a disappointment. Berlin was well beyond the range of Gee and Oboe, and H2S radar was not yet ready. Thick cloud which was encountered on the way to the target hindered navigation and Berlin was found to be covered by haze. Bombing was scattered, mostly in the southern areas, with the greatest concentration in the Tempelhof district. The report from Berlin contains some interesting items among the usual details of buildings destroyed, etc. The German air-raid warning system failed to report the approach of a large bomber force, only of a few single aircraft. The Lancasters and Halifaxes thus arrived over Berlin in the evening when a lot of people were away from their homes. The first bombs coincided with the sounding of the sirens and there were many scenes of panic until the police could control the crowds attempting to find shelter. Goebbels, the Gauleiter of Berlin, is reported as having been most angry and he ordered an overhaul of the procedure. Because of the failure, an unusually high number of people were killed, considering the weakness of the bombing: 198; but this figure includes 53 prisoners of war - 52 Frenchmen and 1 Englishman - and 6 foreign workers. Another event was that about half of the personnel of the Berlin Flak units were away from the city, taking part in a course; this resulted in a very much lighter barrage than normal.
The next day, the whole of Berlin was talking of a 'miracle' which had occurred at the Deutschlandhalle, the largest covered hall in Europe, with 10,000 seats. The raid had started in the middle of the evening show of the yearly circus in the hall, a major event in Berlin's social life. The air-raid police and the fire brigade managed to supervise the evacuation of every person and all the circus animals to open ground in parks around the hall. 21 people were slightly injured in the crush as the crowds left the building. Just after the last person had left, a large number of incendiary bombs fell on to the hall and it was completely burned out, becoming the largest ruin in Berlin so far in the war. None of the 10,000 people in the open near by were hurt!
16 (a and b). The huge Deutschlandhalle in Berlin before and after bombing from which 10,000 people escaped just before it was bombed on
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The R.A.F. casualties were also light. Only 1 Lancaster, from 5 Group, was lost. The Bomber Command report mentions the lightness of the Berlin Flak defences and assumed that the greater altitude of the bomber force surprised the German gunners.
2 Mosquitoes attacked Duisburg and Essen without loss.
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BERLIN
170 Lancasters and 17 Halifaxes repeated the raid on Berlin. The weather was better than on the previous night but the Pathfinders were again unable to mark the centre of the city and again the bombing fell mainly in the southern areas. The Bomber Command report stated that the Daimler-Benz factory was hit, either during this night or during the raid of the previous night, but this is not confirmed by the German report; however, a B.M.W. aero-engine factory at Spandau was hit by incendiaries and slightly damaged. There was no important damage in any part of Berlin on this raid; the city records did not classify a single building in the 'destroyed' or 'seriously damaged' sections, only in the lightly damaged section. 8 people were killed and 41 were injured.
The routes taken by the bombers to and from Berlin were the same as those followed on the previous night and German night fighters were able to find the bomber stream. 19 Lancasters and 3 Halifaxes were lost, 11.8 percent of the force. The experiments with this Lancaster/Halifax force, using target indicators against Berlin, now ceased until H2S became available.
An observer of this raid was Richard Dimbleby, the B.B.C. broadcaster, who flew in a 106 Squadron Lancaster piloted by Wing Commander Guy Gibson.
