LA SPEZIA
52 Lancasters from the force which bombed Friedrichshafen 3 nights earlier flew from North Africa, bombed La Spezia, and then flew on to England without loss. Bomber Command claimed damage to an armaments store and an oil depot at La Spezia.
Minor Operations: 3 Mosquitoes each to Cologne and Duisburg, 30 aircraft minelaying off Brittany and Biscay ports. No aircraft lost.
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WUPPERTAL
630 aircraft - 251 Lancasters, 171 Halifaxes, 101 Wellingtons, 98 Stirlings, 9 Mosquitoes. 34 aircraft - 10 Halifaxes, 10 Stirlings, 8 Lancasters, 6 Wellingtons - lost, 5.4 percent of the force.
This attack was aimed at the Elberfeld half of Wuppertal, the Barmen half of the town having been devastated at the end of May. The Pathfinder marking was accurate and the Main Force bombing started well but the creepback became more pronounced than usual. 30 aircraft bombed targets in more western parts of the Ruhr; Wuppertal was at the eastern end of the area. These bombing failures were probably a result of the recent run of intensive operations incurring casualties at a high level. However, much serious damage was again caused to this medium-sized Ruhr town. The post-war British survey estimated that 94 percent of the Elberfeld part of Wuppertal was destroyed on this night and Wuppertal's own records show that more bombs fell in Elberfeld than had fallen in Barmen on the last raid. 171 industrial premises and approximately 3,000 houses were destroyed; 53 industrial premises and 2,500 houses were severely damaged. Approximately 1,800 people were killed and 2,400 injured.
There was a dramatic incident in Gelsenkirchen, 20 miles north of Wuppertal, when an R.A.F. 4-engined bomber crashed into the hall of a building which had been taken over by the Wehrmacht. The bomber blew up 'with a terrific explosion'. A German officer, 13 soldiers, the caretaker of the building and 5 Dutch trainee postal workers were killed and 2 more soldiers died later.
24 (a and b). A shot-down Wellington on a hillside above Hagen, in the Ruhr, with the bodies of at least two crew members trapped in the wreckage.
Minor Operations: 4 Mosquitoes to Duisburg, 4 Stirlings minelaying in the River Gironde, 7 O.T.U. sorties. No losses.
