COMMUNICATIONS
1,065 aircraft - 589 Lancasters, 418 Halifaxes, 58 Mosquitoes - to bomb railway and road centres on the lines of communication behind the Normandy battle area. All of the targets were in or near French towns. 3,488 tons of bombs were dropped on targets at Achres, Argentan, Caen, Chteaudun, Cond-sur-Noireau, Coutances, St-L, Lisieux and Vire. Every effort was made to bomb accurately but casualties to the French civilians were inevitable. Cloud affected the accuracy of the bombing at many of the targets and, at Achres, the Master Bomber ordered the raid to be abandoned because of cloud and no bombs were dropped.
10 Lancasters and 1 Halifax were lost in these raids; 6 of the Lancasters were lost in the 5 Group raid at Caen, where the main force of bombers had to wait for the target to be properly marked and then fly over an area full of German units and guns at bombing heights below 3,000 ft.
Some details are available of the effects of the bombing. At Argentan, Chteau-dun and Lisieux, much damage was done to railways, although the towns, Lisieux in particular, were hit by many bombs. Important bridges at Coutances were badly damaged but the town was hit and set on fire; approximately 65 percent of the buildings were destroyed and 312 civilians were killed. The town centres of Caen, Cond-sur-Noireau, St-L and Vire were all badly bombed and most of the roads through those towns were blocked.
Minor Operations: 32 Mosquitoes to Ludwigshafen, 18 Serrate patrols, 19 aircraft minelaying in the Brest area, 26 aircraft on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost.
Total effort for the night: 1,160 sorties, 11 aircraft (0.9 percent) lost.
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COMMUNICATIONS
337 aircraft - 195 Halifaxes, 122 Lancasters, 20 Mosquitoes - attacked railway targets at Achres, Juvisy, Massey-Palaiseau and Versailles. Bombing conditions were better than on the previous night. All targets were accurately bombed and, although no details are available, it is probable that fewer civilians were killed. The targets were mostly more distant from the battle front than those recently attacked and German night fighters had more time to intercept the bomber forces. 17 Lancasters and 11 Halifaxes were lost, 8.3 percent of the forces involved.
FORT DE CERISY
112 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitoes of 1, 5 and 8 Groups carried out an accurate attack on an important 6-way road junction half-way between Bayeux and St-L. The surrounding woods were believed to contain fuel dumps and German tank units preparing to counter-attack the Allied landing forces. The nearest French village was several kilometres away. 2 Lancasters lost.
Minor Operations: 32 Mosquitoes to Cologne, 10 R.C.M. sorties, 18 Serrate and 18 Intruder patrols, 22 Halifaxes and 3 Stirlings minelaying off Lorient and Brest, 24 aircraft on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost.
Total effort for the night: 586 sorties, 30 aircraft (5.1 percent) lost.
