MINOR OPERATIONS
36 Mosquitoes to Berlin, 6 each to Gotha and Wanne-Eickel, 5 to Karlsruhe and 4 to Scholven/-Buer, 29 R.C.M. sorties, 30 Mosquito patrols. 1 Mosquito lost from the Berlin raid.
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AMERICAN ARMY SUPPORT
Bomber Command was asked to bomb 3 towns near the German lines which were about to be attacked by the American First and Ninth Armies in the area between Aachen and the Rhine. 1,188 Bomber Command aircraft attacked Dren, Jlich and Heinsburg in order to cut communications behind the German lines. Dren was attacked by 485 Lancasters and 13 Mosquitoes of 1, 5 and 8 Groups, Jlich by 413 Halifaxes, 78 Lancasters and 17 Mosquitoes of 4, 6 and 8 Groups and Heinsberg by 182 Lancasters of 3 Group. 3 Lancasters were lost on the Dren raid and 1 Lancaster on the Heinsberg raid. 1,239 American heavy bombers also made raids on targets in the same area, without suffering any losses. More than 9,400 tons of high-explosive bombs were dropped by the combined bomber forces.
The R.A.F. raids were all carried out in easy bombing conditions and the 3 towns were virtually destroyed. Dren, whose civilian population was still present, suffered 3,127 fatal casualties - 2,403 local civilians, 398 civilians from other places temporarily staying in Dren and 326 unidentified, of whom at least 217 were soldiers. Heinsberg, described in the British press with other targets as 'a heavily defended town', contained only 110 civilians and a local military unit of 1 officer and a few soldiers; 52 of the civilians were killed. No report is available from Jlich.
The American advance was not a success. Wet ground prevented the use of tanks and the American artillery units were short of ammunition because of supply difficulties. The infantry advance was slow and costly.
