BOCHUM
749 aircraft - 384 Halifaxes, 336 Lancasters, 29 Mosquitoes - 1, 4, 6 and 8 Groups. 23 Halifaxes and 5 Lancasters were lost; German night fighters caused most of the casualties. 346 (Free French) Squadron, based at Elvington, lost 5 out of its 16 Halifaxes on the raid.
This was a particularly successful attack based upon standard Pathfinder marking techniques. Severe damage was caused to the centre of Bochum. More than 4,000 buildings were destroyed or seriously damaged; 980 Germans and 14 foreigners were killed. Bochum's industrial areas were also severely damaged, particularly the important steelworks. This was the last major raid by Bomber Command on this target.
DORTMUND-EMS CANAL
174 Lancasters and 2 Mosquitoes of 5 Group. 3 Lancasters lost.
The Germans had partly repaired the section of the canal north of Mnster after the 5 Group raid in September, so this further attack was required. The banks of both branches of the canal were again breached and water drained off, leaving barges stranded and the canal unusable. A report from Speer to Hitler, dated
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SOLINGEN
173 Lancasters of 3 Group carried out a G-H raid. 1 Lancaster lost.
Results of the raid were not observed, because of the complete cloud cover, but German reports show that this was an outstanding success. Most of the bombing fell accurately into the medium-sized town of Solingen. 1,300 houses and 18 industrial buildings were destroyed and 1,600 more buildings were severely damaged. Between 1,224 and 1,882 people were killed (accounts vary) and approximately 2,000 people were injured. A proportion of the bombs fell outside Solingen, however, and 150 people were killed in nearby Remscheid and Wuppertal.
1 Wellington flew an R.C.M. sortie and returned safely.
These 3 near-perfect raids in 24 hours - the area-bombing raid on Bochum marked by Pathfinders, the selective attack on the Dortmund-Ems Canal by 5 Group and the 3 Group G-H raid on Solingen - are good examples of the versatility and striking power now possessed by Bomber Command. All groups had taken part, dispatching 1,098 sorties and dropping 5,130 tons of bombs accurately on the targets. The loss of 28 bombers from the Bochum raid also shows, however, that the German defences could still be effective.
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MOSQUITO OPERATIONS
65 Mosquitoes to Stuttgart - in 2 waves - and 6 to Aschaffenburg. No aircraft lost.
