BERLIN
769 aircraft - 495 Lancasters, 264 Halifaxes, 10 Mosquitoes. 35 aircraft - 22 Halifaxes, 13 Lancasters - lost, 4.6 percent of the force. 102 Squadron, from Pocklington, lost 5 of its 16 Halifaxes on this raid, 2 more crashed in England and the squadron would lose 4 more aircraft in the next night's raid. The bomber approach route took a wide swing to the north but, once again, the German controller managed to feed his fighters into the bomber stream early and the fighters scored steadily until the force was well on the way home. The diversions were not large enough to deceive the Germans.
The Berlin area was, as so often, completely cloud-covered and what happened to the bombing is a mystery. The Pathfinder sky-marking appeared to go according to plan and crews who were scanning the ground with their H2S sets believed that the attack fell on eastern districts of Berlin. No major navigational problems were experienced. No photographic reconnaissance was possible until after a further 4 raids on Berlin were carried out but the various sources from which the Berlin reports are normally drawn all show a complete blank for this night. It is not known whether this is because of some order issued by the German authorities to conceal the extent of the damage or whether the entire raid missed Berlin.
Minor Operations: 12 Mosquitoes to DÜSSELDORF, 4 to Kiel and 3 to Hannover, 6 R.C.M. sorties, 5 Serrate patrols, 29 aircraft minelaying in the Frisians and off French ports, 20 O.T.U. sorties. No losses.
Total effort for the night: 848 sorties, 35 aircraft (4.1 percent) lost.
