AACHEN
374 aircraft - 214 Halifaxes, 76 Wellingtons, 55 Stirlings, 18 Lancasters, 11 Mosquitoes; 5 Group did not take part in this raid. 20 aircraft - 15 Halifaxes, 2 Lancasters, 2 Wellingtons, 1 Stirling - lost, 5.3 percent of the force.
A strong tail wind brought the first waves of the Main Force into the target area before Zero Hour with the result that, when the first Pathfinder markers were released, an unusually large number of aircraft bombed in the first minutes of the raid. The visibility was good and large areas of Aachen appeared to burst into flame at once. In the words of the report from Aachen, 'A Terrorangriff of the most severe scale was delivered.' 2,927 individual buildings were destroyed. These contained 16,828 flats/apartments and there was the familiar list of public and cultural buildings hit. Among those classed as severely damaged were the cathedral, the Rathaus, the town theatre, the police headquarters, the local prison, the main post office, two infantry barracks and an army food depot, and 8 large industrial premises including an aero-engine factory, a rubber factory, a tyre factory and a wagon works. 294 people were killed and 745 injured and 28,500 people appear to have fled the town and were still absent when new ration cards were issued nearly 7 weeks later.
Minor Operations: 2 Oboe Mosquitoes carried out a diversion for the Aachen raid by dropping target indicators over Cologne. 8 O.T.U. Wellingtons carried out leaflet flights to France. 1 Wellington crashed in the sea.
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8 Mosquitoes carried out a nuisance raid on Berlin. 1 aircraft crashed in the sea.
