GERMANY, ITALY, OCCUPIED COUNTRIES
139 aircraft to many targets, 30 Hampdens to Berlin being the largest raid. 1 Hampden lost and 3 Whitleys returning from the most distant target ditched in the sea.
A Whitley of 58 Squadron, based at Linton-on-Ouse, was shot down by a German Intruder on this night and crashed near Thornaby-on-Tees. The Whitley had taken off to bomb the Skoda Works at Pilsen, in Czechoslovakia. The pilot, Pilot Officer E. H. Brown, and 3 other members of the crew were killed and the only survivor was injured. This was the first known success against a Bomber Command aircraft by a German Intruder over the mainland of Britain, though several German pilots had already claimed bombers shot down on the routes over the North Sea. The successful German pilot was Hauptmann Karl Hulshoff of I/NJG 2, the specialist German Intruder unit at that time. Hulshoff claimed the Whitley as a 'Hereford'; he survived the war.
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18 Blenheims on sea and coastal sweeps. 5 aircraft found targets to bomb. No losses.
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GERMANY
31 Wellingtons and 11 Whitleys to Cologne, Hamburg, Reisholz and Stuttgart. 1 Whitley lost. Wellingtons sent to Hamburg, attempting to bomb the battleship Bismarck, caused 12 fires of which 8 are classed as large in the Hamburg report. 17 people were injured in Hamburg.
