The story
MINOR OPERATIONS
71 Mosquitoes to Karlsruhe, 6 to Hallendorf and 4 to Duisburg, 24 R.C.M. sorties, 22 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.
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HAGEN
504 aircraft - 394 Halifaxes, 87 Lancasters, 23 Mosquitoes - of 1, 4, 6 and 8 Groups, 1 Halifax and 1 Lancaster crashed in France.
The town of Hagen, not too heavily bombed before this raid, supplied 22 pages of detail and a large map showing the location of every high-explosive bomb which fell in the town. (There was even a full-page veterinary report.) Most of the bombing was in the central, eastern and southern areas of Hagen. There were 53 large fires. Classed as destroyed or seriously damaged were: 1,658 houses, 92 industrial buildings, 21 schools, 14 cultural buildings, 5 hospitals, 5 banks, etc. 483 Germans and 100 foreigners were killed; 997 Germans and 88 foreigners were injured.
The effect upon industrial production was serious. Many of the firms shown in the Hagen report are recorded as having lost up to 3 months' production. In addition, it was found by the Allies after the war that a factory making U-boat accumulator batteries - of which large numbers were needed by the new types of U-boats - was completely destroyed in this raid.
Minor Operations: 66 Mosquitoes to Giessen, 44 R.C.M. sorties, 62 Mosquito patrols, 10 Stirlings on Resistance operations. 1 Stirling on Resistance work and 1 Intruder Mosquito lost.
Total effort for the night: 686 sorties, 4 aircraft (0.6 percent) lost.
There's more to discover
You have arrived at just one small part of Back to Normandy — a personal project dedicated to preserving stories, images, music and memories of the Second World War.
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.