NUREMBERG
152 aircraft - 82 Wellingtons, 54 Whitleys, 9 Halifaxes, 7 Stirlings - on the first large raid to this city. 8 aircraft - 5 Wellingtons, 1 each of the other types - lost and 5 more aircraft crashed in England.
Crews reported some fires started but some also said these were in villages 10 miles from Nuremberg. The city of Nuremberg reports only a few bombs in and around the city, with 1 person killed and 6 injured. Many more bombs fell on Schwabach, 10 miles south of Nuremberg, which suffered approximately 50 buildings destroyed and 8 or 10 (reports conflict) people killed.
By chance, a letter is available giving details of bombing on this night in the village of Lauingen, on the Danube sixty-five miles from Nuremberg. Bombs fell on this small community for 4 hours. Craters from 200 high-explosive bombs were later found and approximately 700 incendiaries fell in the village, with many more bombs falling in the surrounding countryside. 44 houses were destroyed. 4 people died, including the Brgermeister, who had a heart attack when he saw his village on fire. The villagers could only think at the time that the raid was intended for the nearest industrial town, Ingoldstadt, which was 50 miles further east. Crowds of people came from surrounding areas to see this badly damaged village, so far from any major industrial target.
A further report, from Stuttgart, describes how 46 houses were hit in the small town of Lauffen, on the River Neckar, near one of Stuttgart's regular decoy fire sites. This location is ninety-five miles west of Nuremberg!
It is significant that both Lauingen and Lauffen were situated on wide rivers, as was Nuremberg, and it was probably this factor that persuaded a few hopelessly lost crews who were navigating on dead reckoning that they had found Nuremberg. Other crews were then attracted to the scenes of the bombing and joined in. These errors illustrate the navigation difficulties experienced by crews in changeable wind conditions when flying to inland targets, albeit they are extreme examples of such error.
BREMEN
99 aircraft - mostly Wellingtons and Hampdens. 65 aircraft bombed in cloudy conditions and fires were seen. 2 Wellingtons and 1 Hampden lost.
HLS
79 Hampdens and 11 Manchesters attempted to bomb the chemical factory at Hls but this was completely cloud-covered and bombing was scattered. 1 Hampden and 1 Manchester lost.
Minor Operations: 8 Hampdens on searchlight-suppression and airfield attacks, 23 Wellingtons and 1 Whitley to Boulogne. No losses.
Total effort for the night: 373 sorties: this was, by a narrow margin, a new record; the previous highest number was 364 on the
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18 Blenheims on Circus operations to Arques and Mazingarbe. 1 Blenheim lost.
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DÜSSELDORF
53 Wellingtons and 7 Stirlings; haze resulted in scattered bombing. 1 Wellington lost.
COLOGNE
30 Hampdens and 9 Manchesters; searchlight glare prevented target identification. Cologne reports only a few bombs, 6 people killed and 5 injured, and damage to 17 houses.
Minor Operations: 5 Wellingtons and 1 Stirling to Boulogne, 13 Hampdens minelaying in the Frisians and Kiel Bay. No losses.
