MINOR OPERATIONS
30 Mosquitoes to Ludwigshafen, 11 to railway yards at Aachen and 8 to Lison, 7 Serrate patrols, 42 aircraft minelaying off Dutch, Belgian and French coasts. 2 Mosquitoes were lost from the Ludwigshafen raid.
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BOURG-LOPOLD
331 aircraft - 267 Halifaxes, 56 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitoes - to attack the military camp. 9 Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster lost, 3.0 percent of the force.
1 Oboe-aimed target indicator fell right on the target and the bombing which followed caused severe damage to the camp. No further details are available.
AACHEN
162 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitoes of 1, 3 and 8 Groups to attack the Rothe Erde railway yards. 12 Lancasters lost, 7.0 percent of the force.
The railway lines at the yards, which were not seriously hit in the raid of 2 nights earlier, were now severely damaged and all through traffic was halted. A large proportion of delayed-action bombs were dropped. The bombing also hit the nearby Aachen suburb of Forst which, in the words of our local expert Hubert Beckers, 'was razed to the ground'. The local hospital, an army barracks, an army-stores office, 2 police posts and 21 industrial buildings were hit, as well as 603 houses. 167 people were killed and 164 injured. The local people were impressed that the whole raid only lasted 12 minutes.
NANTES
100 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitoes of 5 Group to attack a railway junction and workshops. The first 50 Lancasters bombed so accurately that the Master Bomber ordered the remainder of the force to retain their bombs. 1 Lancaster lost.
RENNES
78 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitoes of 8 Group attacked the airfield in good visibility. The marking was good and the bombing was very accurate. Much damage to the airfield installations was caused and there was a large explosion, probably in the bomb dump.
COASTAL BATTERIES
272 aircraft - 208 Lancasters, 49 Halifaxes, 15 Mosquitoes - carried out raids on 5 coastal-battery positions on the French coast. All of the targets were bombed satisfactorily, 1 Lancaster and 1 Mosquito lost.
Minor Operations: 23 Mosquitoes to Berlin and 6 to DÜSSELDORF, 7 R.C.M. sorties, 28 Serrate and 10 Intruder patrols, 60 aircraft minelaying from Le Havre to the River Gironde, 10 aircraft on Resistance operations, 7 O.T.U. sorties. 3 Mosquitoes - 2 Intruders and 1 Serrate - lost.
Total effort for the night: 1,111 sorties in 17 separate operations, 28 aircraft (2.5 percent) lost.
