MINOR OPERATIONS
15 Mosquitoes to DÜSSELDORF and 1 to a flying-bomb site at Sottevaast, 20 O.T.U. sorties. 1 O.T.U. Whitley lost.
Day Operations, 1-
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STUTTGART
557 aircraft - 415 Lancasters, 129 Halifaxes, 13 Mosquitoes. Thick cloud on the routes to and from Stuttgart made it difficult for the German fighters to get into the bomber stream and only 4 aircraft - 3 Lancasters and 1 Halifax - were lost, 0.7 percent of the force.
The same cloud was present over the target and the Pathfinder markers quickly disappeared into it. Returning crews were unable to judge how successful the raid had been but the local report shows that much new damage was caused in the central, western and northern parts of Stuttgart. Several more historic buildings in the centre were hit, including the Kronprinzenpalais and the Altes Schloss. The Neues Schloss, severely damaged 10 nights earlier, was now totally destroyed. Much housing was hit and 125 people were killed and 510 injured. Several important industrial premises were seriously damaged, including the Bosch works and the Daimler-Benz motor factory, and 'the remains' of the main railway station, hit in earlier raids, were further damaged.
DIVERSION AND SUPPORT OPERATIONS
18 Mosquitoes to airfields in Holland, 11 Mosquitoes on a diversion raid to Munich, 6 R.C.M. sorties, 10 Serrate patrols. No aircraft lost.
Minor Operations: 1 Mosquito to a flying-bomb site, 10 Halifaxes and 1 Stirling on Resistance operations, 16 O.T.U. sorties. No losses.
Total effort for the night: 630 sorties, 4 aircraft (0.6 percent) lost.
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MINOR OPERATIONS
55 Mosquitoes to Berlin, 40 to Erfurt and 3 on 'siren tours' of Northern Germany, 32 R.C.M. sorties, 13 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.
