. It opened thus:
Sir,
I am directed to inform you that a comprehensive review of the enemy's present political, economic and military situation discloses that the weakest points in his armour lie in the morale of the civil population and in his inland transportation system. The wide extension of his military activities is placing an ever-increasing strain on the German transportation system and there are many signs that our recent attacks on industrial towns are having great effect on the morale of the civil population.
2 … I am to request that you will direct the main effort of the bomber force, until further instructions, towards dislocating the German transportation system and to destroying the morale of the civil population as a whole and of the industrial workers in particular.
There was no mention of oil; it was finally realized that Bomber Command did not have the ability to make any impression on Germany's oil supplies at this stage of the war. The directive went on to list specific targets for attack. During the moon period of each month, the bombers were to be sent to a ring of targets around the Ruhr - Hamm, Osnabrck, Soest, Schwerte, Cologne, Duisburg and DÜSSELDORF - the destruction of whose railway installations should isolate the Ruhr and prevent war materials being moved from that large industrial area to Germany's fighting fronts. Inland waterway targets were also listed. On nights with no moon, the bombers were directed to attack the general city areas of Cologne, DÜSSELDORF and Duisburg which, all being situated on the distinctive Rhine, should be the easiest targets to find on dark nights. When the weather was unfavourable for raids on the Rhine city areas, more distant targets were listed for general attack: Hamburg, Bremen, Hannover, Frankfurt, Mannheim, Stuttgart. This directive would remain in force for the remainder of the summer and well into the autumn. The only minor diversion from raids on Germany was the requirement to pay occasional visits to U-boat bases in France and to the German warships in Brest harbour.
Although Sir Richard Peirse now had a reasonably clear run in what could be expected to be good flying weather, his force was still showing no increase in strength. The creation of new squadrons was still matched by the removal of squadrons for duty elsewhere. The new types of aircraft recently brought into service - Manchesters, Stirlings and Halifaxes - were meeting many technical problems when introduced to operational life and the combined numbers of these available during the coming period would never reach fifty aircraft. The main strength for night raids would continue to be provided by the Wellingtons, Whitleys and Hampdens, which had served so stoutly for what would soon be two years of war. The first Australian squadron to serve in Bomber Command commenced operations in August; this was 455 Squadron flying Hampdens from Swinderby. An interesting new aircraft about to appear as a high-altitude day bomber was the American-built B-17, the Flying Fortress. The only command change was the departure on 26 July of Air Vice-Marshal A. Coningham, who had commanded 4 Group since before the outbreak of war, for a position in the Middle East in which he would prove very successful. He was replaced by Air Vice-Marshal C. R. Carr, a New Zealander who would command 4 Group until almost the end of the war.
The new period got off to a good start with intensive operations to inland German targets and, although there was some slackening because of periods of unfavourable weather, particularly in August and October, the tonnage of bombs dropped was greater than in any previous period of the war. The pattern of recent months, with larger forces being dispatched in the moon period of each month and smaller raids to lower-priority targets on the darker nights, was continued. Most of the midsummer raids had to be confined to the Ruhr and Rhineland areas because of the shorter nights, but the bombers started to reach out to more distant targets as the nights lengthened. In this way, Italian cities appeared on the target lists again in the autumn. German reports will continue to illustrate the poor bombing results during this period. When a local expert in Cologne, Erich Quadflieg, was asked about a series of raids in 1941 which produced only a few bombs in Cologne, or sometimes even none, he was surprised to hear that 80 or 90 or even more than 100 bombers had been dispatched. The Cologne people had reckoned the true numbers to be three to five aircraft, with the larger numbers quoted in Britain's wartime newspapers being 'Churchill's propaganda'.
But, if the effort and the bomb tonnage increased, so did Bomber Command's casualties. The German night fighters were at last becoming established. Although much of the Luftwaffe departed to Russia, the growing night-fighter force remained; a German return shows 134 twin-engined night fighters with trained crews available in the West on
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HAMM
45 Hampdens and 28 Whitleys; only 31 aircraft were able to bomb in the target area. 4 Whitleys and 3 Hampdens lost.
MNSTER
51 Wellingtons; 1 lost. Large fires were claimed in the railway-station area. Mnster recorded 15 people killed.
BIELEFELD
33 Wellingtons to attack a power-station. No losses.
MERSEBURG
13 Halifaxes and 1 Stirling to the Leuna oil plant. 1 Halifax lost.
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15 Blenheims on uneventful sweep off the Frisians. 3 Stirlings to Mazingarbe; 1 lost.
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AACHEN
82 aircraft - 39 Hampdens, 27 Whitleys, 16 Wellingtons - on general area attack. 1 Hampden and 1 Whitley lost.
This was the first large raid on Aachen and the town was heavily bombed with many hits in the central areas. Property damage is listed as follows: 91 commercial premises hit of which 19 were destroyed; 1,698 houses (possibly housing units' in apartment blocks) destroyed or seriously damaged; the cathedral, the town hall and 2 hospitals were seriously damaged and 2 other churches were hit. Personnel casualties: 60 killed, 85 civilians and 21 air-raid workers injured, 3,450 people bombed out.
OSNABRCK
57 Wellingtons; 2 lost. Crews report 'Bursts in target area; several fires', but local reports show that no bombs fell in Osnabrck, only a few in two nearby villages - Holte and Georgsmarienhutte - with 1 person killed and 1 injured.
1 Wellington bombed Le Havre and returned safely.
