OPLADEN
328 aircraft - 227 Halifaxes, 66 Lancasters, 35 Mosquitoes. 2 Lancasters lost. 9 of the Mosquitoes bombed 3_ hours before the main raid. The aiming point for the attack was the marshalling yards but results are not known.
Minor Operations: 7 Mosquitoes on Oboe trials to Bonn, Eisenach, Frankfurt and Kassel (probably calibrating new Oboe stations in France and Belgium), 7 Mosquitoes on 'siren tours' of Hamburg, Hannover, Mnster and Osnabrck, 32 R.C.M. sorties, 37 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.
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COLOGNE/GREMBERG
167 Lancasters of 3 Group attacked the marshalling yards with accurate bombing. No aircraft lost.
1 Hudson flew on a Resistance operation.
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MNCHENGLADBACH
186 aircraft - 129 Lancasters, 46 Halifaxes, 11 Mosquitoes - of 1, 4 and 8 Groups. No aircraft lost.
The railway yards were the aiming point but little damage was caused there. Scattered bombing throughout Mnchengladbach and the neighbouring town of Rheydt destroyed 128 houses and 19 public buildings in Mnchengladbach and, in Rheydt, 45 houses, the Catholic church, a school and the office block of the local power-station. 21 (or 24, accounts differ) people were killed in Mnchengladbach and 30 in Rheydt. 200 bombs were also recorded in the village of Wickrath, 7 km south-west of Mnchengladbach; 5 people were killed there.
BONN
162 Lancasters and 16 Mosquitoes of 1 and 8 Groups. 1 Lancaster lost.
The intention again was to bomb the railway installations. Bomber Command's report states that the main weight of the attack fell on the railway yards, causing 'considerable damage'. This is not borne out by a report from Bonn to which is attached a police document (secret at that time) which is in great detail and would be unlikely to omit serious damage to railways. The only railway incident mentioned is the collapse of the Victoria road bridge across the main line from Cologne to Koblenz. A great deal of general damage, on buildings ranging from the university to a slaughterhouse, is listed. 486 people were killed; many of them were in 2 public shelters which received direct hits.
OSLO FJORD
67 Lancasters and 1 Mosquito of 5 Group attacked a 'large naval unit' and some merchant ships but no direct hits were claimed. No aircraft lost.
Minor Operations: 87 Mosquitoes to Frankfurt - 79 to the city generally and 8 to the railway yards - 35 R.C.M. sorties, 45 Mosquito patrols, 16 Halifaxes of 6 Group minelaying in the Skagerrak and 11 Lancasters of 5 Group off Oslo, 12 aircraft on Resistance operations. 1 minelaying Halifax was lost and 1 Mosquito from the Frankfurt raid crashed in France.
Total effort for the night: 638 sorties, 3 aircraft (0.5 percent) lost.
