SUBMARINE BASES
17 aircraft bombed St-Nazaire and 17 Hampdens were sent minelaying off Lorient. 1 minelaying aircraft lost.
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BOSTON OPERATIONS
24 Bostons, with much support from Fighter Command, carried out a series of raids against targets in France. 12 Bostons of 88 and 226 Squadrons made a low-level attack on the Ford lorry factory at Poissy, near Paris, a target beyond the range of fighter cover. Two further formations, each of 6 Bostons, carried out Circus operations to Abbeville railway yards and Comines power-station at times which would divert German fighter attention from the Poissy raid.
All of these operations were carried out with much success. 8 Bostons bombed at Poissy, though 1 of them crashed soon afterwards. This was the first operational loss of a Boston aircraft. There were no other bomber losses.
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ESSEN
This was yet another major step forward, a heavy raid on the previously difficult target of Essen with leading aircraft now fitted with the Gee navigational aid.
211 aircraft - 115 Wellingtons, 37 Hampdens, 27 Stirlings, 22 Manchesters, 10 Halifaxes. 8 aircraft - 5 Wellingtons, 2 Manchesters, 1 Stirling - lost. It was a fine night but industrial haze over Essen prevented accurate bombing and the raid was a disappointment. Gee could only enable the aircraft to reach the approximate area of the target. Photographic evidence showed that the main target, the Krupps factories, was not hit but some bombs fell in the southern part of Essen.
Essen reports only a 'light' raid with a few houses and a church destroyed, 10 people killed and 19 'missing'. The most noticeable incident was the burning down of a well-known restaurant, the Blumenhof, in the Gruga Park, which was being used to house foreign workers.
Minor Operations: 13 Wellingtons and Stirlings to Le Havre, 6 Blenheims to Ostend, 6 Blenheim Intruders to Dutch airfields, 9 Hampdens minelaying in the Frisians, 3 Manchesters minelaying off Lorient, 1 Hampden on a leaflet flight to France. No losses.
Total effort for the night: 249 sorties, 8 aircraft (3.2 percent) lost.
