MAGDEBURG
648 aircraft - 421 Lancasters, 224 Halifaxes, 3 Mosquitoes - on the first major raid to this target. The German controller again followed the progress of the bomber stream across the North Sea and many night fighters were in the stream before it crossed the German coast. The controller was very slow to identify Magdeburg as the target but this did not matter too much because most of the night fighters were able to stay in the bomber stream, a good example of the way the Tame Boar tactics were developing. 57 aircraft - 35 Halifaxes, 22 Lancasters - were lost, 8.8 percent of the force; it is probable that three quarters of the losses were caused by German night fighters. The Halifax loss rate was 15.6 percent!
The heavy bomber casualties were not rewarded with a successful attack. Some of the Main Force aircraft now had H2S and winds which were stronger than forecast brought some of these into the target area before the Pathfinders' Zero Hour. The crews of 27 Main Force aircraft were anxious to bomb and did so before Zero Hour. The Pathfinders blamed the fires started by this early bombing, together with some very effective German decoy markers, for their failure to concentrate the marking. No details are available from Magdeburg but it is believed that most of the bombing fell outside the city. An R.A.F. man who was in hospital at Magdeburg at the time reports only, 'bangs far away'.
BERLIN
22 Lancasters and 12 Mosquitoes of 5 and 8 Groups carried out a diversionary raid; 1 Lancaster lost.
FLYING-BOMB SITES
111 aircraft - 89 Stirlings, 12 Lancasters, 10 Mosquitoes - carried out raids on 6 sites in France without loss.
Minor Operations: 8 Mosquitoes to Oberhausen and 5 to Rheinhausen, 8 R.C.M. sorties, 5 Serrate patrols, 8 Wellingtons minelaying off St-Nazaire, 16 O.T.U. sorties. No aircraft lost.
Total effort for the night: 843 sorties, 58 aircraft (6.9 percent) were lost. The number of aircraft lost was the heaviest in any night of the war so far, but only by 2 aircraft.
