The story
ESSEN
457 aircraft - 158 Wellingtons, 156 Lancasters, 91 Halifaxes, 42 Stirlings, 10 Mosquitoes. 23 aircraft - 8 Lancasters, 7 Halifaxes, 6 Wellingtons, 2 Stirlings lost, 5.0 percent of the force.
This was another very successful Oboe-marked raid. The centre of the bombing area was right across the giant Krupps factory, just west of the city centre, with later bombing drifting back to the north-western outskirts. Photographic interpretation assessed that Krupps received 30 percent more damage on this night than on the earlier successful raid of 5/6 March. Nearly 500 houses were also destroyed in the raid. The number of people killed is variously reported between 169 and 322, with 198 probably being the most accurate figure, made up of 64 men, 45 women, 19 children, 4 soldiers, 61 foreign workers and 5 prisoners of war.
German records say that one third of the bombs dropped on this night did not hit Essen and that 39 people were killed in other towns with Bottrop, just north of Essen, being the worst hit, but these towns were all close to Essen and there was often no clear division between overlapping built-up areas.
Minor Operations: 9 Stirlings minelaying in the Frisians, 7 O.T.U. sorties. No losses.
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MINELAYING
51 Wellingtons and 17 Lancasters to areas between Lorient and the Kattegat. 2 Wellingtons and 1 Lancaster lost.
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