BERLIN
764 aircraft - 469 Lancasters, 234 Halifaxes, 50 Stirlings, 11 Mosquitoes. This was the greatest force sent to Berlin so far but it was also the last raid in which Stirlings were sent to Germany. Bad weather again kept most of the German fighters on the ground and the bomber force was able to take a relatively 'straight in, straight out' route to the target without suffering undue loss. 26 aircraft - 11 Lancasters, 10 Halifaxes, 5 Stirlings - were lost, 3.4 percent of the force.
Berlin was again completely cloud-covered and returning crews could only estimate that the marking and bombing were believed to be accurate. In fact, this was the most effective raid on Berlin of the war. A vast area of destruction stretched from the central districts westwards across the mainly residential areas of Tiergarten and Charlottenburg to the separate suburb city of Spandau. Because of the dry weather conditions, several 'firestorm' areas were reported and a German plane next day measured the height of the smoke cloud as 6,000 metres (nearly 19,000 ft).
It is impossible to give anything like full details of the damage or to separate completely details from this raid and a smaller one on the next night. At least 3,000 houses and 23 industrial premises were completely destroyed, with several thousands of other buildings damaged. It was estimated that 175,000 people were bombed out. More than 50,000 soldiers were brought in to help from garrisons up to 100 km distant; these were equivalent to nearly 3 army divisions taken from their normal duties. Interesting entries among the lists of buildings destroyed or severely damaged are: the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedchtniskirche (the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church which is now, half ruined, half restored, a major attraction in West Berlin), the Charlottenburg Castle, the Berlin Zoo, much of the Unter den Linden, the British, French, Italian and Japanese embassies, the Ministry of Weapons and Munitions, the Waffen S.S. Administrative College, the barracks of the Imperial Guard at Spandau and, among many industrial premises, 5 factories of the Siemens electrical group and the Alkett tank works which had recently moved from the Ruhr.
It is difficult to give exact casualty figures: an estimated 2,000 people were killed, including 500 in a large shelter in Wilmersdorf which received a direct hit, and 105 people were killed in another shelter which was next to the Neukln gasworks, where there was a huge explosion.
Minor Operations: 12 Mosquitoes to Leverkusen, 14 Wellingtons minelaying in the Frisians and off Texel, 12 O.T.U. sorties. No losses.
Total effort for the night: 802 sorties, 26 aircraft (3.2 percent) lost.
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BERLIN
383 aircraft - 365 Lancasters, 10 Halifaxes, 8 Mosquitoes - to continue the attack on Berlin. The bombing force used the same direct route as had been employed on the previous night. The German controllers made an early identification of Berlin as the probable target; their single-engined fighters were gathered over the city by Zero Hour and other fighters arrived a few minutes later. Fake instructions broadcast from England caused much annoyance to the German who was giving the 'running commentary'; the Germans started using a female commentator but this was promptly countered by a female voice from England ordering the German pilots to land because of fog at their bases. 'Spoof' fighter flares dropped by Mosquitoes north of the bomber stream also caused some diversion of German effort. Bomber crews noticed that Flak over the target was unusually restrained, with the German fighters obviously being given priority. 20 aircraft - all Lancasters - were lost, 5.2 percent of the bomber force.
The target was again cloud-covered and the Pathfinders carried out sky-marking, but many of the Main Force crews aimed their bombs through the cloud at the glow of 11 major fires still burning from the previous night. Much further destruction was caused in Berlin but, because many of the details of the 2 raids were recorded together by the Germans, it is only possible to say that more than 2,000 further houses, 94 wooden barracks buildings, 8 industrial premises and 1 military establishment were destroyed, with many other buildings damaged. Approximately 1,400-1,500 people were killed on this night.
6 Oboe Mosquitoes attacked the Knapsack power-station near Cologne without loss.
