4 O.T.U. Whitleys dropped leaflets over France without loss.
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12 Venturas attacked railway yards at Abbeville. 3 Mosquitoes out of 6 dispatched bombed power-stations at Haarlem and The Hague. No aircraft lost.
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DORTMUND
596 aircraft - 255 Lancasters, 141 Halifaxes, no Wellingtons, 80 Stirlings, 10 Mosquitoes - on the largest 'non-1,000' raid of the war to date and the first major attack on Dortmund. 31 aircraft - 12 Halifaxes, 7 Stirlings, 6 Lancasters, 6 Wellingtons - lost, 5.2 percent of the force. A further 7 aircraft crashed in bad weather at the bomber bases.
The initial Pathfinder marking was accurate but some of the backing-up marking fell short. A decoy fire site also attracted many bombs. But half of the large force did bomb within 3 miles of the aiming point and severe damage was caused in central and northern parts of Dortmund. The city's report states that 1,218 buildings were destroyed and 2,141 seriously damaged, including the Hoesch and the Dortmunder Union steel factories and many facilities in the dock area. The old Rathaus was among 7 buildings of a cultural nature which were destroyed. At least 693 people were killed, including 200 prisoners of war, and 1,075 people were injured. The number of dead in this raid was a new record.
Minor Operations: 6 Stirlings and 2 Halifaxes on an H2S training raid to Rheine, 24 O.T.U. sorties. No losses.
Total effort for the night: 628 sorties, 31 aircraft (4.9 percent) lost.
