MINELAYING
35 aircraft of 3 and 5 Groups minelaying off Lorient. 1 Hampden and 1 Lancaster lost. These were the first Bomber Command losses for 11 days and nights and the Lancaster lost, from 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron, was the first of its type to be lost on operations. The pilot, Flight Sergeant L. Warren-Smith, a South African, and his all-N.C.O. crew - 4 Englishmen, 2 Rhodesians, 1 Australian - all died.
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9 Bostons, with fighter escort, carried out accurate bombing at Le Trait shipyard. No Bostons lost.
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ESSEN
254 aircraft - 192 Wellingtons, 26 Stirlings, 20 Manchesters, 9 Hampdens, 7 Lancasters - in the largest force sent to 1 target so far. 9 aircraft - 5 Manchesters (out of the 20 dispatched), 3 Wellingtons, 1 Hampden - lost.
Visibility was good and 181 crews claimed to have bombed Essen, many claiming hits on the Krupps works, but bombing photographs showed that much of the effort was drawn off by the decoy fire site at Rheinberg, 18 miles west of Essen. Essen's report says that only 9 high-explosive bombs, 700 incendiaries and 1,627 leaflets were dropped there, the last figure being an example of German thoroughness. 1 house was destroyed and 2 seriously damaged. 5 people were killed and 11 injured.
Minor Operations: 27 aircraft to St-Nazaire, 38 aircraft minelaying off Lorient, 30 aircraft on leaflet flights to France. 1 Wellington on the St-Nazaire raid and 1 minelaying Hampden were lost.
Total effort for the night: 349 sorties, 11 aircraft (3.2 percent) lost.
