The story
MINOR OPERATIONS
98 training aircraft on a sweep over the North Sea, 74 Mosquitoes to Berlin, 8 to Nuremberg and 4 to Munich, 44 R.C.M. sorties, 31 Mosquito patrols, 5 Mosquitoes of 5 Group minelaying in the Kiel Canal, 20 aircraft on Resistance operations. 1 Mosquito lost from the Berlin raid.
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MANNHEIM
478 aircraft - 372 Lancasters, 90 Halifaxes, 16 Mosquitoes - of 1, 6 and 8 Groups. 3 Lancasters lost.
This was a general attack on the city area. Sky-marking was used because of the complete cloud cover. Nothing is known of what happened in Mannheim. The city's recording procedure, one of the best in Germany until now, appears to have broken down completely and, if any report was prepared, it did not survive the war. This was the last large Bomber Command raid on Mannheim.
The neighbouring town of Ludwigshafen, however, was also hit by many bombs. A considerable amount of damage was caused right across the town and in nearby villages. Public, domestic and industrial buildings were all hit - 424 buildings destroyed, nearly 1,000 seriously damaged. Only 5 people were killed and 17 injured but 6,000 people lost their homes.
KAMEN
151 Lancasters of 3 Group attacked the oil plant through cloud. No aircraft were lost. The local report says only that 9 people died.
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Every record is a doorway to a larger story. Explore Back to Normandy to discover more, or visit Fred Vogels' personal website to learn about the person and the projects behind it.