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.
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HAMBURG
312 aircraft - 241 Halifaxes, 62 Lancasters, 9 Mosquitoes - of 4, 6 and 8 Groups. 1 Halifax lost.
The purpose of this raid was to hit the shipyards which were now assembling the new Type XXI U-boats, whose parts were prefabricated in many parts of inland Germany. Thanks to the Schnorkel breathing tube and a new type of battery-driven electric engine, the Type XXI could cruise under water for long periods and was capable of bursts of high speed. Its development in numbers would have posed great problems for Allied convoy defence if the war had lasted longer.
The Hamburg area was found to be cloud-covered and the bombing was not expected to be accurate enough to cause much damage to the shipyards. Brunswig (pp. 362-3 and 456) mentions only a serious fire which almost destroyed the liner Robert Ley, built in Hamburg before the war as a cruise liner for the Strength Through Joy movement, and gives statistics of 118 people killed, 172 wounded, 54 fires (38 of them large ones).
KASSEL
262 Lancasters and 14 Mosquitoes of 1 and 8 Groups carried out the first large raid on Kassel since October 1943; it was also the last large R.A.F. raid on this target. 1 Mosquito lost.
This target was also covered by cloud. The only local report available is a short one which says that many fires were started in the western parts of Kassel. No casualties or other details are given.
Minor Operations: 39 Mosquitoes to Berlin, 33 to Hannover, 7 to Hagen and 5 each to Bremen and Osnabrck, 50 R.C.M. sorties, 36 Mosquito patrols, 23 Halifaxes and 14 Lancasters minelaying in the Rivers Elbe and Weser, 5 aircraft on Resistance operations. 1 R.C.M. Halifax lost. The 5 Stirlings of 161 Squadron, which were carrying supplies to Resistance units at unrecorded destinations, but probably in Denmark and Norway, were the last Resistance operations flights of the war.
Total effort for the night: 805 sorties, 3 aircraft (0.4 percent) lost.
