MINOR OPERATIONS
30 Mosquitoes to DÜSSELDORF, 2 Mosquitoes on R.C.M. sorties, 3 Halifaxes on Resistance operations. No losses.
Bomber Command had carried out operations on 15 nights since 29 February, flying 2,699 sorties but only losing 10 aircraft, 0.4 percent of the forces involved. This was a most unusual run of light losses for this period of the war but the operations contained only 1 major raid to Germany.
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STUTTGART
863 aircraft - 617 Lancasters, 230 Halifaxes, 16 Mosquitoes. The German fighter controller split his forces into 2 parts. The bomber force flew over France nearly as far as the Swiss frontier before turning north-east to approach Stuttgart. This delayed the German fighters contacting the bomber stream but, when the German fighters did arrive, just before Stuttgart was reached, the usual fierce combats ensued. 37 aircraft - 27 Lancasters, 10 Halifaxes - were lost, 4.3 percent of the force. 2 of the Lancasters force-landed in Switzerland.
Adverse winds delayed the opening of the attack and the same winds may have been the cause of the Pathfinder marking falling back well short of the target, despite the clear weather conditions. Some of the early bombing fell in the centre of Stuttgart but most of it fell in open country south-west of the city. The Akademie was damaged in the centre of Stuttgart and some housing was destroyed in the south-western suburbs. 88 people were killed and 203 injured.
AMIENS
140 aircraft - 94 Halifaxes, 38 Stirlings, 8 Mosquitoes. 2 Halifaxes and 1 Stirling lost. The Bomber Command report claims much damage to the railway yards but few details are available from Amiens, where 18 French civilians were killed.
WOIPPY
22 Lancasters of 5 Group to an aero-engine factory at Woippy, near Metz. 10/10ths cloud caused the attack to be abandoned before any bombs were dropped. No aircraft lost.
SUPPORT AND MINOR OPERATIONS
17 Mosquitoes to 5 German targets and 10 Mosquitoes to airfields in Holland, 2 R.C.M. sorties, 11 Serrate patrols, 2 Stirlings minelaying off Texel, 31 aircraft on Resistance operations, 18 O.T.U. sorties. 1 Serrate Mosquito lost.
Total effort for the night: 1,116 sorties, 41 aircraft (3.7 percent) lost. The number of sorties flown on this night was a new record.
