LEIPZIG
823 aircraft - 561 Lancasters, 255 Halifaxes, 7 Mosquitoes. 78 aircraft - 44 Lancasters and 34 Halifaxes - lost, 9.5 percent of the force. The Halifax loss rate was 13.3 percent of those dispatched and 14.9 percent of those Halifaxes which reached the enemy coast after 'early returns' had turned back. The Halifax IIs and Vs were permanently withdrawn from operations to Germany after this raid.
This was an unhappy raid for Bomber Command. The German controllers only sent part of their force of fighters to the Kiel minelaying diversion. When the main bomber force crossed the Dutch coast, they were met by a further part of the German fighter force and those German fighters which had been sent north to Kiel hurriedly returned. The bomber stream was thus under attack all the way to the target. There were further difficulties at the target because winds were not as forecast and many aircraft reached the Leipzig area too early and had to orbit and await the Pathfinders. 4 aircraft were lost by collision and approximately 20 were shot down by Flak.
Leipzig was cloud-covered and the Pathfinders had to use sky-marking. The raid appeared to be concentrated in its early stages but scattered later. There are few details of the effects of the bombing. No report is available from Germany and there was no immediate post-raid reconnaissance flight. When photographs were eventually taken, they included the results of an American raid which took place on the following day.
DIVERSION AND SUPPORT OPERATIONS
45 Stirlings and 4 Pathfinder Halifaxes minelaying in Kiel Bay, 16 Oboe Mosquitoes bombing night-fighter airfields in Holland, 15 Mosquitoes on a diversion raid to Berlin, 12 Serrate patrols. 1 Mosquito lost from the Berlin raid.
3 Mosquitoes attacked Aachen and 3 more bombed flying-bomb sites in France without loss.
Total effort for the night: 921 sorties, 79 aircraft (8.6 percent) lost. This was the heaviest Bomber Command loss of the war so far, easily exceeding the 58 aircraft lost on
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STUTTGART
598 aircraft - 460 Lancasters, 126 Halifaxes, 12 Mosquitoes. The North Sea sweep and the Munich diversion successfully drew the German fighters up 2 hours before the main bomber force flew inland and only 9 aircraft - 7 Lancasters and 2 Halifaxes - were lost, 1.5 percent of the force. 4 further Lancasters and 1 Halifax crashed in England.
Stuttgart was cloud-covered and the bombing became scattered. The local report states that considerable damage was caused in the centre of the city and in the north-eastern and north-western suburbs of Bad Canstatt and Feuerbach. Several important cultural buildings in the centre of the city were badly damaged - the Neues Schloss, the Landtag (regional parliament building), the state picture gallery, the state archives, the state theatre and two old churches. In the Feuerbach suburb, however, the Bosch factory, which produced dynamos, injection pumps and magnetos and was considered to be one of the most important factories in Germany, was heavily damaged. 125 people were killed and 510 injured.
DIVERSION AND SUPPORT OPERATIONS
156 aircraft - 132 from training units and 24 from squadrons - flew a large training exercise across the North Sea as a preliminary feint; 24 Mosquitoes attacked airfields in Holland; 7 Mosquitoes made a diversionary raid on Munich and there were 7 Serrate patrols. No aircraft lost.
28 Stirlings and 6 Wellingtons laid mines off French ports. 1 Wellington lost.
Total effort for the night: 826 sorties, 10 aircraft (1.2 percent) lost.
