TROOP POSITIONS
337 aircraft - 223 Lancasters, 100 Halifaxes, 14 Mosquitoes - of 4, 5 and 8 Groups attacked German troop and vehicle positions at Aunay-sur-Odon and vrecy, near Caen. These raids were prepared and executed in great haste, in response to an army report giving details of the presence of major German units. The weather was clear and both targets were successfully bombed. The target at Aunay, where the marking was shared by 5 and 8 Groups, was particularly accurate. No aircraft were lost.
RAILWAYS
330 aircraft - 61 Lancasters, 255 Halifaxes, 14 Mosquitoes - of 4, 6 and 8 Groups attacked railways at Cambrai, Douai and St-Pol. All of the targets were either partially cloud-covered or affected by haze and the bombing was not completely concentrated or accurate. 3 Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster were lost, the Lancaster being the Master Bomber's aircraft at Douai.
SCHOLVEN/BUER
35 Mosquitoes to attack the Scholven/Buer oil plant. A short German report says that 3 bombs fell into the plant area and that 3 civilians outside the factory - a farmer, a lorry-driver and a housewife - were killed. No Mosquitoes lost.
Minor Operations: 8 R.C.M. sorties, 19 Serrate and 18 Intruder patrols, 12 Stirlings minelaying off French ports, 10 aircraft on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost.
Total effort for the night: 769 sorties, 4 aircraft (0.5 percent) lost.
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BOULOGNE
297 aircraft - 155 Lancasters, 130 Halifaxes, 12 Mosquitoes - of 1, 4, 5, 6 and 8 Groups carried out attacks on German light naval vessels now gathering in Boulogne harbour. The tactics employed and the bombing results were similar to those at Le Havre the previous evening, although the visibility was not so clear. 1 Halifax lost. The only details from France are in a short civil report which describes this as the worst raid of the war on Boulogne, with great destruction in the port and the surrounding areas and with approximately 200 people being killed.
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AMMUNITION AND FUEL DUMPS
227 aircraft - 119 Lancasters, 99 Halifaxes, 9 Mosquitoes - of 4, 5 and 8 Groups attacked an ammunition dump at Fouillard and a fuel dump at Chtellerault. The raid at Fouillard, carried out by 4 Group with Pathfinder marking, hit the north-western section of the target and the all-5 Group raid at Chtellerault destroyed 8 fuel sites out of 35 in the target area. No aircraft lost.
RAILWAYS
224 aircraft - 184 Lancasters, 30 Stirlings, 10 Mosquitoes - of 3 and 8 Groups attacked railway yards at Lens and Valenciennes. The raids took place in clear visibility and both targets were accurately bombed. 6 Lancasters were lost from the Lens raid and 5 Lancasters from Valenciennes.
Minor Operations: 31 Mosquitoes to Gelsenkirchen, 13 Serrate and 21 Intruder patrols, 7 Stirlings and 4 Halifaxes minelaying off Channel ports. 1 Mosquito lost from the Gelsenkirchen raid.
Total effort for the night: 527 sorties, 12 aircraft (2.3 percent) lost.
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- 'Troop Positions' entry. Page 528, add the following:
The raid on Aunay-sur-Odon was particularly tragic. The small town had been bombed in daylight two days earlier whan at least 31 people were killed. The mainly 5 Group raid was concentrated and violent and caused massive destruction; 165 inhabitants died. Not a single German was present when the raid took place.
The town has since tried to find the reason for the bombing. It was one week after D-Day and followed immediately on a thrust by the British 7th Armoured Division which penetrated the German lines and reached Villers Bocage, well in the German rear and only four miles from Aunay. But the British withdrew from the area 36 hours before the air raid. The local people believe the raid may have been the result of mistaken identity and should have been directed on Epinay-sur-Oden, only five miles away and described as containing a large concentration of German tanks'. This may be so, but Aunay-sur-Odon was a vital road centre with six medium-class and four minor roads radiating from the town. It is likely that the blocking of these roads to German reinforcements expected to arrive on this important sector of the battle front, had been requested by Allied commanders in Normandy.
