ST-NAZAIRE
Having destroyed Lorient, Bomber Command was now ready to start on the second target on the list of French U-boat base ports which the directive of 14 January had ordered to be destroyed. 437 aircraft - 152 Lancasters, 119 Wellingtons, 100 Halifaxes, 62 Stirlings, 4 Mosquitoes - were dispatched. 5 aircraft - 2 Lancasters, 2 Wellingtons, 1 Stirling - were lost, 1.1 percent of the force.
This initial raid caused widespread destruction. Local reports say that many bombs fell into the port area and that 60 percent of the town was destroyed. 29 people are reported as being killed and 12 injured; it is presumed that most of the local population had left the town.
Minor Operations: 3 Mosquitoes to the Ruhr, 5 Wellingtons minelaying off St-Nazaire, 2 O.T.U. sorties. No losses.
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BERLIN
302 aircraft - 156 Lancasters, 86 Halifaxes, 60 Stirlings. 17 aircraft - 7 Lancasters, 6 Halifaxes, 4 Stirlings - lost, 5.6 percent of the force.
The Pathfinders experienced difficulty in producing concentrated marking because individual parts of the extensive built-up city area of Berlin could not be distinguished on the H2S screens. Bombing photographs showed that the attack was spread over more than 100 square miles with the main emphasis in the south-west of the city. However, because larger numbers of aircraft were now being used and because those aircraft were now carrying a greater average bomb load, the proportion of the force which did hit Berlin caused more damage than any previous raid to this target. This type of result - with significant damage still being caused by only partially successful attacks - was becoming a regular feature of Bomber Command raids.
Much damage was caused in the south and west of Berlin. 22 acres of workshops were burnt out at the railway repair works at Tempelhof and 20 factories were badly damaged and 875 buildings - mostly houses - were destroyed. 191 people were killed.
Some bombs hit the Telefunken works at which the H2S set taken from the Stirling shot down near Rotterdam was being reassembled. The set was completely destroyed in the bombing but a Halifax of 35 Squadron with an almost intact set crashed in Holland on this night and the Germans were able to resume their research into H2S immediately.
Minor Operations: 6 Mosquitoes to the Ruhr, 49 Wellingtons and Halifaxes minelaying off French and German coasts, 4 O.T.U. sorties. 2 Wellington minelayers lost.
Total effort for the night: 361 sorties, 19 aircraft (5.3 percent) lost.
