LORIENT
157 aircraft - 139 Wellingtons, 11 Lancasters, 4 Halifaxes, 3 Stirlings - dispatched and bombed in poor visibility. 2 Wellingtons and 1 Lancaster lost.
Minor Operations: 9 Halifaxes of 6 Group attempted to bomb shipping in the River Gironde; only 3 aircraft bombed, Bordeaux docks. 18 O.T.U. sorties were flown. There were no losses from these operations.
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9 Mosquitoes made a successful low-level attack on a diesel engine factory at Copenhagen. 1 aircraft lost.
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DÜSSELDORF
162 aircraft - 124 Lancasters, 33 Halifaxes, 5 Mosquitoes. 3 Halifaxes and 3 Lancasters lost, 3.7 percent of the force.
This was the first occasion when Oboe Mosquitoes carried out 'ground marking' for the Pathfinders. ('Ground markers' were the now standard target indicators set to burst and cascade just above the ground. They were far more accurate than the 'sky-marker' parachute flares previously used by Mosquitoes when marking targets.) Pathfinder Lancasters 'backed-up' the Oboe-aimed markers. There was a thin sheet of cloud over the target and, without Oboe and the new target indicators, this raid would have almost certainly been another typical Ruhr area failure. Bombing was well concentrated on the southern part of DÜSSELDORF. The local report lists damage at a wide variety of property: 10 industrial firms destroyed or seriously damaged, 21 lightly damaged; 9 public buildings or amenities destroyed or seriously damaged, 7 lightly damaged; 456 houses destroyed or seriously damaged, 2,400 lightly damaged. The opera house was destroyed. 66 people were killed and 225 injured; 23 of the dead and 169 of the injured were members of the Wehrmacht who were in a train at the main railway station when it was hit by high-explosive bombs.
MINELAYING
54 aircraft to Texel and the Frisians; 1 Stirling lost.
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and flew its first operation that night. Flew Wellingtons and Lancasters from Kirmington until the end of the war.
OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE
Raids Flown
Wellingtons - 43 bombing, 33 minelaying
Lancasters - 202 bombing, 13 minelaying
Total - 245 bombing, 46 minelaying = 291 raids
Sorties and Losses
Wellingtons - 789 sorties, 39 aircraft lost (4.9 percent)
Lancasters - 4,279 sorties, 114 aircraft lost (2.7 percent)
Total - 5,068 sorties, 153 aircraft lost (3.0 percent)
3 Wellingtons and 19 Lancasters were destroyed in crashes.
169 SQUADRON
SERVICE
A Mosquito night-fighter squadron, transferred to 100 Group in December 1943. Flew mainly Serrate operations from Little Snoring and Great Massingham until the end of the war.
OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE
Operations flown: 219 Serrate, 26 daylight Intruder (known as Rangers), 10 bombing and napalm raids and 2 anti-Intruder operations over Britain. Sorties, 1,247; losses, 13 aircraft (1.0 percent). Claims: 25 German aircraft destroyed (16 Me 110s, 7 Ju 88s, 1 Do 217, 1 Me 109) and 7 aircraft damaged. Also claimed 1 flying bomb destroyed.
170 SQUADRON
SERVICE
A Mustang Army Co-Operation squadron from June 1942 to January 1944 but then disbanded. Re-formed on
