SASSNITZ
191 Lancasters and 7 Mosquitoes of 5 Group attacked this small port on the island of Rgen, in the Baltic. Considerable damage was caused to the northern part of the town and 3 ships were sunk in the harbour. 1 Lancaster lost.
WESEL
87 Lancasters of 3 Group and 51 Mosquitoes of 8 Group continued the attack on Wesel with two separate raids. No aircraft lost.
Minor Operations: 42 Mosquitoes to Berlin, 2 R.C.M. sorties, 5 Mosquito patrols, 15 Lancasters minelaying off Sassnitz. No aircraft lost.
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DESSAU
526 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitoes of 1, 3, 6 and 8 Groups. 18 Lancasters lost, 3.4 percent of the force.
This was another devastating raid on a new target in Eastern Germany with the usual town centre, residential, industrial and railway areas all being hit. Few further details are available.
HEMMINGSTEDT
256 Halifaxes and 25 Lancasters of 4, 6 and 8 Groups attempted to attack the Deutsche Erdoel refinery at Hemmingstedt, near Heide, but the bombing fell 2 to 3 miles from the target. 4 Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster lost.
HARBURG
234 Lancasters and 7 Mosquitoes of 5 Group carried out an accurate attack on the oil refinery. 14 Lancasters lost. 189 Squadron, from Fulbeck, lost 4 of its 16 Lancasters on the raid.
Brunswig's local report (pp. 362 and 456) states that a rubber factory was seriously damaged as well as the oil targets. 422 people were killed, including 44 who died in the rubber factory's air-raid shelter. There were 99 fires, 37 of them classified as large.
Minor Operations: 80 Mosquitoes to Berlin, 10 to Frankfurt, 9 to Mnster and 5 to Hannover, 56 R.C.M. sorties, 43 Mosquito patrols, 15 Halifaxes and 5 Lancasters minelaying off Eckernfrde and Flensburg. 4 aircraft were lost - 2 Halifaxes and 1 Fortress of 100 Group and 1 Mosquito from the Berlin raid.
Total effort for the night: 1,276 sorties, 41 aircraft (3.2 percent) lost.
