LÜBECK
234 aircraft - 146 Wellingtons, 41 Hampdens, 26 Stirlings, 21 Manchesters. 12 aircraft - 7 Wellingtons, 3 Stirlings, 1 Hampden, 1 Manchester - lost.
This famous raid took place on the night of Palm Sunday and was the first major success for Bomber Command against a German target. The attack was carried out in good visibility, with the help of an almost full moon and, because of the light defences of this target, from a low level, many crews coming down to 2,000 ft. The force was split into 3 waves, the leading one being composed of experienced crews with Gee-fitted aircraft; although Lbeck was beyond the range of Gee, the device helped with preliminary navigation. More than 400 tons of bombs were dropped; two thirds of this tonnage was incendiary. The aiming point was the centre of the Altstadt, which was built of narrow streets and old, half-timbered houses. It was a heavy, fire-raising attack on pure area-bombing lines.
191 crews claimed successful attacks. Aerial photographs and German reports confirmed the outstanding success of the raid. Information is available from many sources. In Bomber Command's new terminology, approximately 190 acres of the old town were assessed on the basis of photographs as having been destroyed, mostly by fire; this was reckoned to be 30 percent of Lbeck's built-up area. German sources show that 1,425 buildings in Lbeck were destroyed, 1,976 were seriously damaged and 8,411 were lightly damaged; these represented 62 percent of all buildings in Lbeck. Of the 3,401 buildings classed as destroyed or seriously damaged, 3,070 were residential buildings, 70 were public buildings, 256 were industrial or commercial and 5 were agricultural. Among the public buildings destroyed were many of architectural importance including the Rathaus and Marienkirche, described by Rumpf as the 'mother church of Northern Germany'. Among the industrial buildings destroyed was the Drgerwerke factory which made oxygen equipment for U-boats. Brunswig states that the cost of the damage caused was 200 million Reichsmarks (£20 million).
The casualties in Lbeck were 312 or 320 people killed (accounts conflict), 136 seriously and 648 slightly injured. This was the heaviest death toll in a German raid so far in the war, exceeding the 185 killed in Hamburg on
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18 Hampdens and 8 Manchesters minelaying in the Frisians and off Denmark, 6 aircraft on leaflet flights to France. 2 Manchester minelayers lost.
