BERLIN
396 aircraft - 191 Lancasters, 124 Halifaxes, 81 Stirlings. 9 aircraft - 4 Halifaxes, 3 Lancasters, 2 Stirlings - lost, 2.3 percent of the force.
This raid was basically a failure. The bombing force approached the target from the south-west and the Pathfinders established two separate marking areas, but both well short of the city. No bombing photographs were plotted within 5 miles of the aiming point in the centre of Berlin and most of the bombing fell from 7 to 17 miles short of the aiming point.
The Berlin report confirms that damage in the city was not heavy, although the bombing was slightly more widespread than the bombing photographs indicated. The local report, however, contains several interesting aspects. Only 16 houses were classed as completely destroyed but many further buildings, including public utilities and factories, suffered light damage. These were typical results in a scattered raid; the local fire services were able to contain fires quickly. But 102 people were killed and 260 injured. The majority of these casualties occurred when two bombs at the Anhalter Station hit a military train bringing men on leave from the Russian Front; 80 soldiers were killed and 63 injured. Our researcher in Berlin, Arno Abendroth, states that the damage in Berlin would have been heavier if approximately one quarter of the bombs dropped had not turned out to be 'duds'. The English factories must have been under some stress,' he writes. Further out from the city centre, stray bombs hit several Luftwaffe establishments. 3 planes were destroyed and a Flak position was hit at Tempelhof airfield; the flying school at Staaken airfield was damaged and a further 70 service personnel were killed or wounded. These casualties are in addition to those in Berlin.
But the most interesting story concerns a secret Luftwaffe stores depot in the woods at Teltow, 11 miles south-west of the centre of Berlin. By chance, this was in the middle of the main concentration of bombs and a large quantity of valuable radio, radar and other technical stores was destroyed. The Luftwaffe decided that this depot was the true target for the R.A.F. raid on this night and were full of admiration for the special unit which had found and bombed it so accurately. The Gestapo investigated houses near by because someone reported that light signals had been flashed to the bombers. This theory was still current when our research into this raid was carried out in 1983!
Minor Operations: 24 aircraft minelaying in the Frisians and off Texel, 4 O.T.U. sorties. No losses.
Total effort for the night: 424 sorties, 9 aircraft (2.1 percent) lost.
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24 Venturas, escorted by fighters, bombed Rotterdam docks and hit at least 6 ships and started a fire in a dockside warehouse. No Venturas were lost.
6 Mosquitoes were dispatched to attack a railway yard near Lige but 2 aircraft were shot down and the remaining 4 bombed an alternative target.
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ST-NAZAIRE
323 aircraft - 179 Wellingtons, 52 Halifaxes, 50 Lancasters, 35 Stirlings, 7 Mosquitoes. 1 Halifax and 1 Lancaster lost.
This Oboe-marked attack fell mainly in the port area.
Minor Operations: 7 aircraft minelaying off St-Nazaire, 5 O.T.U. sorties. No losses.
