FLYING-BOMB SITES
322 aircraft - 165 Halifaxes, 142 Lancasters, 15 Mosquitoes - of 3, 6 and 8 Groups attacked 3 sites. Because of cloud, 2 of the raids were abandoned after only 17 aircraft had bombed; the third target, at St-Martin-l'Hortier, was bombed through 10/10ths cloud. No aircraft lost.
3 Mosquitoes of 100 Group flew Ranger patrols and claimed an Me 110 shot down. No Mosquitoes lost.
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WESSELING
133 Lancasters and 6 Mosquitoes to attack the synthetic-oil plant at Wesseling; all the aircraft in this force were from 5 Group except for 5 Lancasters provided by 1 Group.
The weather forecast for the target area (and for the attack on Scholven/Buer which took place at the same time) predicted clear conditions but the bombing force encountered 10/10ths low cloud. The planned 5 Group low-level marking method could not be used and the reserve method, in which the Lancasters bombed on H2S, was used instead. German night fighters made contact with the bomber force and 37 Lancasters were lost, 44, 49 and 619 Squadrons each losing 6 aircraft. The casualty rate represented 27.8 percent of the Lancaster force.
Post-raid reconnaissance showed that only slight damage was caused to the oil plant and this is borne out by a local German report which adds the information that 15 Germans, 5 foreign workers and 1 prisoner of war were killed in the nearby town of Wesseling. But a secret German report quoted in the British Official History records a 40 percent production loss at Wesseling after this raid. It is possible that the loss was only of short duration.
SCHOLVEN/BUER
123 Lancasters and 9 Mosquitoes of 1, 5 and 8 Groups (124 aircraft from 5 Group) to attack the synthetic-oil plant. 8 Lancasters lost.
This target was also cloud-covered and the 5 Group marking method could not be used, the Pathfinder aircraft present providing Oboe-based sky-marking instead. Again there is a contradiction in reports on the effect of the bombing. Post-raid photographs appeared to show no new damage but the German secret reports indicate a 20 percent production loss.
Minor Operations: 32 Mosquitoes to Berlin, 41 Mosquito patrols, 13 Stirlings minelaying off Guernsey, St-Malo and St-Nazaire, 10 Halifaxes on Resistance operations. 1 Mosquito of 100 Group lost.
Total effort for the night: 361 sorties, 46 aircraft (12.7 percent) lost.
