, was captured at the end of the war and described how the bombing of the canal was preventing smelting coke from the Ruhr mines reaching 3 important steelworks - 2 near Brunswick and 1 at Osnabrck. In his post-war interrogation, Speer stated that these raids on the Dortmund-Ems Canal, together with attacks on the German railway system, produced more serious setbacks to the German war industry at this time than any other type of bombing.
Minor Operations: 43 Mosquitoes to Hannover and 6 to Herford, 39 R.C.M. sorties, 68 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost. The 100 Group Mosquitoes claimed 4 Ju 88s and 2 Me 110s destroyed and 2 other night fighters damaged, possibly their most successful night of the war.
Total effort for the night: 1,081 sorties, 31 aircraft (2.9 percent) lost.
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MINOR OPERATIONS
59 Mosquitoes to Hannover and 4 each to Gotha and Erfurt (Erfurt was not reached), 30 R.C.M. sorties, 40 Mosquito patrols. 1 Mosquito from the Hannover raid was lost.
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CASTROP-RAUXEL
122 Lancasters of 3 Group carried out a G-H attack on the synthetic-oil refinery. The bombing was believed to be accurate and no aircraft were lost.
2 Wellington R.C.M. sorties.
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HARBURG
237 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitoes of 5 Group. 7 Lancasters lost.
The aiming point for this raid was the Rhenania-Ossag oil refinery, which had been attacked several times by American day bombers. Brunswig's history of the Hamburg-Harburg air raids gives this raid only a brief mention, saying that considerable damage was caused in Harburg's residential and industrial areas but the oil refinery is not mentioned. 119 people were killed and 5,205 were bombed out.
DORTMUND
209 Lancasters and 19 Mosquitoes of 1 and 8 Groups. No aircraft lost.
The aiming point was the Hoesch Benzin synthetic-oil plant in the Wambel district. A local report confirms that the plant was severely damaged. Other bombs hit nearby housing and the local airfield. 83 people were killed and 85 injured.
Minor Operations: 41 Mosquitoes to the Kamen oil refinery, 12 to Osnabrck, 9 to Wiesbaden, 6 to Gotha and 3 to Erfurt, 36 R.C.M. sorties, 59 Mosquito patrols, 26 Lancasters and 24 Halifaxes minelaying off Oslo, in the Kattegat and in the River Elbe. No aircraft lost.
