DORTMUND
514 Lancasters and 14 Mosquitoes of 1, 3, 6 and 8 Groups. 14 Lancasters lost.
The intention of this raid was to destroy the southern half of Dortmund and Bomber Command claimed that this was achieved. It appears that the Dortmund air-raid recording service had now broken down completely; the local Stadtarchiv has no details of any kind of this raid.
This was the last large Bomber Command raid of the war on Dortmund.
DÜSSELDORF
173 aircraft - 156 Halifaxes, 11 Mosquitoes, 6 Lancasters - of 4 and 8 Groups attacked the Rhenania Ossag refinery in the Reisholz district of DÜSSELDORF. The raid was accurate and it was later established that all oil production was halted. 7 people died in the raid. 4 Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster lost.
MONHEIM
128 aircraft - 112 Halifaxes, 10 Mosquitoes, 6 Lancasters - of 6 and 8 Groups attacked the Rhenania Ossag refinery at Monheim with similar results to the Reisholz raid. 2 Halifaxes lost.
MITTELLAND CANAL
154 Lancasters and 11 Mosquitoes of 5 Group were ordered to attack the canal section near Gravenhorst but the raid was ordered to be abandoned by the Master Bomber because the area was covered by cloud. No aircraft lost.
DIVERSIONARY AND MINOR OPERATIONS
91 aircraft from Heavy Conversion Units in a sweep over the North Sea, 66 Mosquitoes to Berlin and 16 to Mannheim, 65 R.C.M. sorties, 45 Mosquito patrols, 6 aircraft on Resistance operations. 1 aircraft of 100 Group (type not recorded) lost.
Total effort for the night: 1,283 sorties, 22 aircraft (1.7 percent) lost.
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1 Halifax flew an R.C.M. sortie.
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DUISBURG
362 Lancasters and 11 Mosquitoes of 1, 6 and 8 Groups. 7 Lancasters were lost and 3 crashed behind Allied lines in Europe.
This was a successful area-bombing raid and much damage was caused. No other details are available. This was the last major Bomber Command raid on Duisburg.
WORMS
349 aircraft - 288 Halifaxes, 36 Lancasters, 25 Mosquitoes. 10 Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster lost.
This was the first and only large Bomber Command raid on Worms. The raid was an area attack in which 1,116 tons of bombs were accurately dropped. A postwar survey estimated that 39 percent of the town's built-up area was destroyed. The local report says that a considerable part of the bombing fell just outside the town, to the south-west, but it confirms that the remainder caused severe damage in Worms. 64 percent of the town's buildings were destroyed or damaged, including the cathedral, the town museum, and most of the churches and cultural buildings in the old centre. Much of the town's industry was also destroyed, including the only firm devoted completely to the production of war material, one making sprocket wheels for tanks. 239 people were killed and 35,000 bombed out from a population of approximately 58,000.
MITTELLAND CANAL
165 Lancasters and 12 Mosquitoes of 5 Group again attempted to breach the canal near Gravenhorst. Visibility was clear and the attack was successful. Bomber Command claimed that the canal was rendered '100 percent unserviceable'. 9 Lancasters were lost and 4 crashed in France and Holland, 7.9 percent of the Lancaster force. One of the Lancasters which crashed in Holland was piloted by Group Captain A. C. Evans-Evans, D.F.C., the station commander at Coningsby, flying an 83 Squadron aircraft. The Lancaster was shot down by a German fighter and crashed near Eindhoven. One of the gunners was the only survivor.
Minor Operations: 77 Mosquitoes to Berlin and 5 to Bremen, 66 R.C.M. sorties, 35 Mosquito patrols, 28 aircraft on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost.
Total effort for the night: 1,110 sorties, 34 aircraft (3.1 percent) lost.
