NUREMBERG
335 aircraft - 170 Lancasters, 103 Halifaxes, 62 Stirlings. 8 aircraft - 4 Stirlings, 2 Halifaxes, 2 Lancasters - lost, 2.4 percent of the force.
This distant raid had to be marked by a combination of H2S and visual means. The Pathfinders had no moon to help them and, although there was no cloud, they found that haze prevented accurate visual identification of the target area. The result was that both marking and bombing spread over more than 10 miles along the line of the attack, with more than half of the bombs falling outside the city boundaries. This result would be typical of raids carried out beyond the range of Oboe during this period. Nuremberg reports that more than 600 buildings were destroyed and nearly 1,400 were damaged, including the M.A.N. and Siemens factories. Railway installations were also hit. Figures given for the dead vary from 284 to 343.
Sergeant D. R. Spanton, a mid-upper gunner in a 7 Squadron Stirling, had a fortunate escape on this night. After his aircraft crossed the English coast on the return flight, Spanton realized that he was the only man still in the plane. The remainder of the crew, a new crew in this Pathfinder squadron, had baled out earlier, possibly because of suspected fuel shortage, and the pilot left the plane flying on automatic pilot. Spanton had not heard the order. He parachuted safely over Kent and the empty Stirling later crashed into the Thames estuary. The remainder of the crew, presumably thinking they were parachuting over France, had actually come down in the sea and were all drowned. Sergeant Spanton went on to fly a further 12 operations but his plane was lost on the
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15 Mosquitoes bombed the Renault works at Le Mans and scored direct hits. 1 Mosquito lost.
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MUNICH
264 aircraft - 142 Lancasters, 81 Halifaxes, 41 Stirlings. 8 aircraft - 5 Lancasters, 2 Halifaxes, 1 Stirling - lost, 3.0 percent of the force.
The wind caused this raid to be concentrated on the western half of Munich rather than on the centre of the city, but much damage was caused. 291 buildings were destroyed, 660 severely damaged and 2,134 less seriously damaged; these included many public buildings - 11 hospitals, the cathedral, 4 churches and 14 'cultural' buildings for example - but also 3 wholesale and 22 retail business premises were completely destroyed and no less than 294 military buildings were hit, including the headquarters of the local Flak brigade, which was burnt out. The most serious industrial damage was at the B.M.W. factory where the aero-engine assembly shop was put out of action for 6 weeks. Many other industrial concerns were hit, including 141 small, back-street-type workshops which were destroyed.
The detailed Munich reports show that 208 people were killed and 425 injured. The dead included: 2 party officials on duty, 10 soldiers, 1 Hitler Youth boy serving at a Flak site, 2 policemen and 4 foreigners. The local Flak fired 14,234 rounds of ammunition - 2,314 of 105 mm, 8,328 of 88 mm, 3,592 of 20 mm - and 7 night fighters were reported as being on duty in the Munich area but only 1 bomber, unidentified because of its explosion in the air, was shot down over the city.
Minor Operations: 8 Mosquitoes to the Ruhr, 62 aircraft minelaying off Kiel and in the Frisians, 4 O.T.U. sorties. 3 Wellington minelayers lost.
Total effort for the night: 338 sorties, 11 aircraft (3.3 percent) lost.
