WUPPERTAL
630 aircraft - 251 Lancasters, 171 Halifaxes, 101 Wellingtons, 98 Stirlings, 9 Mosquitoes. 34 aircraft - 10 Halifaxes, 10 Stirlings, 8 Lancasters, 6 Wellingtons - lost, 5.4 percent of the force.
This attack was aimed at the Elberfeld half of Wuppertal, the Barmen half of the town having been devastated at the end of May. The Pathfinder marking was accurate and the Main Force bombing started well but the creepback became more pronounced than usual. 30 aircraft bombed targets in more western parts of the Ruhr; Wuppertal was at the eastern end of the area. These bombing failures were probably a result of the recent run of intensive operations incurring casualties at a high level. However, much serious damage was again caused to this medium-sized Ruhr town. The post-war British survey estimated that 94 percent of the Elberfeld part of Wuppertal was destroyed on this night and Wuppertal's own records show that more bombs fell in Elberfeld than had fallen in Barmen on the last raid. 171 industrial premises and approximately 3,000 houses were destroyed; 53 industrial premises and 2,500 houses were severely damaged. Approximately 1,800 people were killed and 2,400 injured.
There was a dramatic incident in Gelsenkirchen, 20 miles north of Wuppertal, when an R.A.F. 4-engined bomber crashed into the hall of a building which had been taken over by the Wehrmacht. The bomber blew up 'with a terrific explosion'. A German officer, 13 soldiers, the caretaker of the building and 5 Dutch trainee postal workers were killed and 2 more soldiers died later.
24 (a and b). A shot-down Wellington on a hillside above Hagen, in the Ruhr, with the bodies of at least two crew members trapped in the wreckage.
Minor Operations: 4 Mosquitoes to Duisburg, 4 Stirlings minelaying in the River Gironde, 7 O.T.U. sorties. No losses.
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GELSENKIRCHEN
473 aircraft - 214 Lancasters, 134 Halifaxes, 73 Stirlings, 40 Wellingtons, 12 Mosquitoes. This was the first raid to Gelsenkirchen since 1941, when it had been one of Bomber Command's regular 'oil targets', although, being in the middle of the Ruhr, this town had often been hit when other targets were attacked. 30 aircraft - 13 Lancasters, 7 Halifaxes, 6 Stirlings, 4 Wellingtons - were lost, 6.3 percent of the force.
The target was obscured by cloud and the Oboe Mosquitoes, for once, failed to produce regular and accurate marking since 5 of the 12 Oboe aircraft found that their equipment was unserviceable. The raid was not a success. DÜSSELDORF reports 24 buildings destroyed and 3,285 damaged but 2,937 of these suffered only superficial blast damage. 20 industrial premises were hit and 4 of them suffered total production loss but no large fires were involved and the loss in production lasted for no longer than 2 weeks. 16 people were killed.
Bombs probably fell on many other Ruhr towns. Solingen, nearly 30 miles from Gelsenkirchen, recorded 21 people killed and 58 injured on this night.
33 aircraft were sent minelaying in the Frisians and off French ports. 1 Lancaster lost.
