COLOGNE
263 aircraft - 179 Wellingtons, 44 Hampdens, 29 Stirlings, 11 Manchesters - another new record for a force sent to a single target. 4 Wellingtons and 1 Hampden lost.
The main target allocated to crews was the Humboldt works, which was in the Deutz area of Cologne. 211 aircraft claimed good bombing results but the nearest bombing photographs developed were 5 miles from the Humboldt works. The Cologne report shows that bombing was scattered right across the city and lists just 1 industrial building hit, a mill in the Deutz area, with 90 houses destroyed or seriously damaged and other buildings, including a hospital, hit. 7 people were killed and 9 injured in the bombing but there were further casualties among a crowd of people who were watching a burning bomber - probably a Wellington - which had crashed in the middle of Cologne; the bomb load exploded killing 16 people and injuring 30 more. The bomber's crew, reported as being Canadians, had been killed in the original crash.
PARIS/GENNEVILLIERS
20 Whitleys to bomb the Gnome & Rhne engine factory. 14 aircraft bombed but the main target was not hit. Local records show 1 house destroyed and 4 damaged, with no casualties. No aircraft were lost.
Minor Operations: 18 aircraft to Le Havre, 6 Blenheims Intruding over Holland, 11 Hampdens and Wellingtons minelaying off the French coast. No losses.
Total effort for the night: 318 sorties, 5 aircraft (1.6 percent) lost.
