MINOR OPERATIONS
8 Mosquitoes to Mnchengladbach and 3 to Dren, 15 Serrate patrols, 8 Stirlings and 4 Lancasters minelaying off Brest and St-Nazaire, 2 Halifaxes on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost.
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LE HAVRE
221 Lancasters and 13 Mosquitoes of 1, 3, 5 and 8 Groups carried out Bomber Command's first daylight raid since the departure of 2 Group at the end of May 1943. The objectives were the fast German motor-torpedo boats (E-boats) and other light naval forces which were threatening Allied shipping off the Normandy beaches only 30 miles away.
The raid took place in 2 waves, one during the evening and the second at dusk. Most of the aircraft in the first wave were from 1 Group and in the second wave from 3 Group. Pathfinder aircraft provided marking by their normal methods for both raids. No unexpected difficulties were encountered; the naval port area was accurately bombed by both waves with 1,230 tons of bombs and few E-boats remained undamaged. 617 Squadron sent 22 Lancasters, each loaded with a 12,000-lb Tallboy bomb, and 3 Mosquito marker aircraft to attack the concrete-covered E-boat pens just before the first wave bombed. Several hits were scored on the pens and one bomb penetrated the roof.
This raid was regarded as an experiment by Sir Arthur Harris, who was still reluctant to risk his squadrons to the dangers of daylight operations but both waves of the attack were escorted by Spitfires of 11 Group and only 1 Lancaster was lost.
Two reports are available from Le Havre (from the local press and the report of the Dfense Passive); they give no details of damage to the naval vessels or facilities, except to mention the 'ravages considrables' caused in the port area by 617 Squadron's bombs. Both reports stress the courage of the local civil and French naval fire brigades which continued to fight the fires caused by the first wave of bombing when the second wave attacked. The Ntre-Dame district, near the port, was devastated but the people there had fortunately been evacuated at an earlier date. Other districts were also hit, with 700 houses and a tobacco factory being destroyed and the local gaol damaged. 76 civilians were killed and 150 injured. These details of damage and casualties in the town area should not obscure the fact that most of the bombing fell into the harbour area and that the E-boat threat to the invasion beaches from this port was almost completely removed by this raid.
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TROOP POSITIONS
337 aircraft - 223 Lancasters, 100 Halifaxes, 14 Mosquitoes - of 4, 5 and 8 Groups attacked German troop and vehicle positions at Aunay-sur-Odon and vrecy, near Caen. These raids were prepared and executed in great haste, in response to an army report giving details of the presence of major German units. The weather was clear and both targets were successfully bombed. The target at Aunay, where the marking was shared by 5 and 8 Groups, was particularly accurate. No aircraft were lost.
RAILWAYS
330 aircraft - 61 Lancasters, 255 Halifaxes, 14 Mosquitoes - of 4, 6 and 8 Groups attacked railways at Cambrai, Douai and St-Pol. All of the targets were either partially cloud-covered or affected by haze and the bombing was not completely concentrated or accurate. 3 Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster were lost, the Lancaster being the Master Bomber's aircraft at Douai.
SCHOLVEN/BUER
35 Mosquitoes to attack the Scholven/Buer oil plant. A short German report says that 3 bombs fell into the plant area and that 3 civilians outside the factory - a farmer, a lorry-driver and a housewife - were killed. No Mosquitoes lost.
Minor Operations: 8 R.C.M. sorties, 19 Serrate and 18 Intruder patrols, 12 Stirlings minelaying off French ports, 10 aircraft on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost.
Total effort for the night: 769 sorties, 4 aircraft (0.5 percent) lost.
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- 'Troop Positions' entry. Page 528, add the following:
The raid on Aunay-sur-Odon was particularly tragic. The small town had been bombed in daylight two days earlier whan at least 31 people were killed. The mainly 5 Group raid was concentrated and violent and caused massive destruction; 165 inhabitants died. Not a single German was present when the raid took place.
The town has since tried to find the reason for the bombing. It was one week after D-Day and followed immediately on a thrust by the British 7th Armoured Division which penetrated the German lines and reached Villers Bocage, well in the German rear and only four miles from Aunay. But the British withdrew from the area 36 hours before the air raid. The local people believe the raid may have been the result of mistaken identity and should have been directed on Epinay-sur-Oden, only five miles away and described as containing a large concentration of German tanks'. This may be so, but Aunay-sur-Odon was a vital road centre with six medium-class and four minor roads radiating from the town. It is likely that the blocking of these roads to German reinforcements expected to arrive on this important sector of the battle front, had been requested by Allied commanders in Normandy.
