MANNHEIM
457 aircraft - 286 Lancasters and 171 Halifaxes. 9 aircraft - 6 Halifaxes and 3 Lancasters - lost, 20 percent of the force.
The target area was mainly cloud-covered and the Pathfinder plan did not work well. The resulting bombing appeared to be scattered. Mannheim, whose wartime officials must have produced some of the best air-raid reports in Germany, sent 37 typed pages of details which showed that this raid caused considerable damage in and around the city. 1,316 buildings were classed as 'totally destroyed' or 'seriously damaged'. 42 industrial concerns, some of them being quite large ones, suffered loss of production. The compensation claims for 9 of the factories totalled 43,815,000 Reichsmarks (£4,381,500). 269 people were killed and 1,210 were injured. There were 1,528 fires: 133 large, 417 medium-sized and 978 small fires. 8 railway engines, 146 passenger carriages and 40 goods wagons were damaged. 144 farm animals were killed: 96 pigs, 18 goats, 15 cows, 12 horses, 2 oxen and a calf.
It is a measure of the increased striking power of Bomber Command that all of the damage and casualties quoted above was caused by a medium-sized raid which is described in the Bomber Command Operations Record Book as 'a scattered attack'.
Minor Operations: 6 Mosquitoes to Duisburg, 10 Stirlings minelaying in the Frisians, 14 O.T.U. sorties. No aircraft lost.
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NUREMBERG
653 aircraft - 318 Lancasters, 216 Halifaxes, 119 Stirlings. 16 aircraft - 7 Halifaxes, 6 Lancasters, 3 Stirlings - lost, 2.5 percent of the force.
The Pathfinders attempted to ground-mark the city and, although their markers were mostly obscured by cloud, a useful attack developed in the central and southern parts of Nuremberg. The Lorenzkirche, the largest of the city's old churches, was badly damaged and about 50 of the houses in the preserved Altstadt were destroyed. There was a large 'fire area' in the Whrd district. Serious property damage - both housing and industrial - was caused and 577 people were killed.
Minor Operations: 9 Mosquitoes to the Ruhr, 18 Wellingtons minelaying off Texel and in the Frisians. No losses.
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and flew Stirlings and Lancasters from Mildenhall until the end of the war.
OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE
Raids Flown
Stirlings - 21 bombing, 20 minelaying
Lancasters - 210 bombing, 17 minelaying
Total - 231 bombing, 37 minelaying = 268 raids
Sorties and Losses
Stirlings - 195 sorties, 7 aircraft lost (3.6 percent)
Lancasters - 2,805 sorties, 44 aircraft lost (1.6 percent)
Total - 3,000 sorties, 51 aircraft lost (1.7 percent)
2 Stirlings and 3 Lancasters were destroyed in crashes.
623 SQUADRON
SERVICE
Formed in 3 Group on
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and flew Stirlings from Downham Market until disbanded on
