BREMERHAVEN
206 Lancasters and 7 Mosquitoes of 5 Group. 100 Group's R.C.M. operations successfully kept German night fighters away from the force and only 1 Lancaster and 1 Mosquito were lost.
This was another successful 5 Group method raid and Bremerhaven, which had not been seriously bombed by the R.A.F. before, required only this one knock-out blow by the comparatively small force of aircraft carrying fewer than 900 tons of bombs. The centre of the town, the port area and the suburb of Geestemnde were gutted by fire. 2,670 buildings were destroyed and 369 seriously damaged. 30,000 people lost their homes; the local report says that, fortunately, the weather remained warm and the many people who had to sleep in the open for several nights until they were evacuated did not suffer too much from exposure. 618 people were killed and 1,193 were injured, the latter putting a severe strain on the only hospital left intact.
Minor Operations: 33 Mosquitoes to Berlin and 6 to Rheine, 30 R.C.M. sorties, 67 Mosquito patrols, 4 Lancasters minelaying in the River Weser. No losses.
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WALCHEREN
56 aircraft - 28 Lancasters, 27 Halifaxes, 1 Mosquito - of 6 and 8 Groups set out to attack the Domburg coastal battery but were recalled. 1 Halifax crashed in England.
There were 8 R.C.M. sorties and 6 Hudsons and 4 Stirlings flew Resistance operations without loss.
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MNCHENGLADBACH/RHEYDT
227 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitoes of 1 and 5 Groups to these twin towns. 4 Lancasters and 1 Mosquito lost. Bomber Command claimed severe damage to both towns, particularly to Mnchengladbach. The only report from Germany states that between 267 and 271 people were killed in Mnchengladbach.
The Master Bomber for this raid was Wing Commander Guy Gibson, V.C., D.S.O., D.F.C., flying a 627 Squadron Mosquito from Coningsby, where he was serving as Base Operations Officer. Gibson's instructions over the target were heard throughout the raid and gave no hint of trouble, but his aircraft crashed - in flames according to a Dutch eyewitness - before crossing the coast of Holland for the homeward flight over the North Sea. There were no German fighter claims for the Mosquito; it may have been damaged by Flak over the target or on the return flight, or it may have developed engine trouble. It was possibly flying too low for the crew to escape by parachute. Gibson and his navigator, Squadron Leader J. B. Warwick, D.F.C., were both killed and were buried in the Roman Catholic Cemetery at Steen-bergen-en-Kruisland, 13 km north of Bergen-op-Zoom. Theirs are the only graves of Allied servicemen in the cemetery.
Aircraft of 100 Group flew 15 R.C.M. and 17 Mosquito sorties without loss.
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Wing Commander G. L. Cheshire, D.S.O., D.F.C.; the Victoria Cross was awarded on
