STUTTGART
343 Lancasters of 1, 3, 5, 6 and 8 Groups. The first aircraft to be equipped with A.B.C. (night-fighter communications jamming), from 101 Squadron, 1 Group, operated on this night. The German night-fighter controller was confused by the Mosquito diversion on Munich and only a few night fighters reached Stuttgart at the end of the attack; 4 Lancasters were lost, 1.2 percent of the force.
The target area was cloud-covered and the H2S Pathfinder marking developed in 2 areas. Many bombs fell in various parts of Stuttgart where 344 buildings - mostly dwelling-houses - were destroyed and 4,586 buildings were damaged. In the city centre, 4 hospitals, a museum (the Lindenmuseum) and the garrison church were hit, and 36 people were drowned in an underground air-raid shelter at the main railway station when a water main was damaged by a bomb and burst. Total casualties in Stuttgart were 104 killed and missing, 300 injured. The town of Bblingen, 10 miles to the south-west, must have been under the second group of markers. 350 houses were hit and 60 people were killed here.
Friedrichshafen
16 Lancasters of 8 Group carried out a diversionary raid without loss and claimed hits on the Zeppelin factory.
Minor Operations: 10 Mosquitoes to Munich, 7 to Emden, 5 to Aachen, 79 aircraft minelaying from Brest to Heligoland, 14 O.T.U. sorties. 1 Stirling minelayer lost.
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HANNOVER
504 aircraft - 282 Lancasters, 188 Halifaxes, 26 Wellingtons, 8 Mosquitoes. This was the last Bomber Command raid in which Wellingtons took part. 300 (Polish) and 432 (Canadian) Squadrons provided the 26 Wellingtons which operated on this night; they all returned safely. The German controller guessed correctly that Hannover was the target and many night fighters arrived before the attack was over. 27 aircraft - 14 Lancasters and 13 Halifaxes - were lost, 5.4 percent of the force.
Conditions over Hannover were clear and the Pathfinders were finally able to mark the centre of the city accurately; a most concentrated attack followed with a creepback of only 2 miles, all within the built-up area. This was probably Hannover's worst attack of the war. The local report describes extensive damage in the centre of the city and in many other parts except the west. The telephone system and electricity supply failed at the beginning of the raid and many water mains were quickly broken. A large area of fire quickly developed in the centre and south-central districts. Acting upon instructions from the Party Headquarters and from district air-raid posts, the population were shepherded to collecting places in open areas between the fires. This action is believed to have saved many lives but 1,200 people were killed and 3,345 were injured, 449 seriously so. A further 6,000-8,000 people received eye injuries because of smoke and heat. 3,932 buildings were completely destroyed and more than 30,000 were damaged in varying degree, but no individual buildings are named. R.A.F. reconnaissance, however, showed that the important Continental rubber factory and the Hanomag machine works were badly hit.
BREMEN
119 aircraft - 95 Stirlings, 17 Halifaxes, 7 Lancasters of 3 and 8 Groups. This was a diversionary raid on a larger scale than ever before. The bombing was scattered but this was a subsidiary aim of the operation. 3 Stirlings were lost, 2.5 percent of the force.
Minor Operations: 10 Mosquitoes to Castrop-Rauxel, 7 to Berlin, 1 to Dren, 17 Stirlings minelaying in the River Gironde and off La Pallice, 2 O.T.U. sorties. No losses.
Total effort for the night: 660 sorties, 30 aircraft (4.5 percent) lost.
