The 50 Sqdn left from Skellingthorpe at 1942-04-06 at 00:29. Loc or duty Koln
He flew with a Handley Page Hampden (type I, serial AT216, code VN-).
Campaign report of the USAAF:
No report
Campaign report of the RAF:
5/6 April 1942
Cologne
263 aircraft - 179 Wellingtons, 44 Hampdens, 29 Stirlings, 11 Manchesters - another new record for a force sent to a single target. 4 Wellingtons and 1 Hampden lost.
The main target was the Humboldt works in Cologne. 211 aircraft claimed good bombing results but the nearest bombing photographs developed were 5 miles from the Humboldt works. The Cologne report lists just 1 industrial building hit, a mill in the Deutz area, with 90 houses destroyed or seriously damaged and other buildings, including a hospital, hit. 7 people were killed and 9 injured in the bombing. There were further casualties among a crowd who were watching a burning bomber which had crashed in the middle of Cologne; the bomb load exploded killing 16 people and injuring 30 more. The bomber's crew had been killed in the original crash.
Paris/Gennevilliers
20 Whitleys to bomb the Gnome & Rhone engine factory. 14 aircraft bombed but the main target was not hit. Local records show 1 house destroyed and 4 damaged, with no casualties. No aircraft were lost.
Minor Operations: 18 aircraft to Le Havre, 6 Blenheims Intruders to Holland, 11 Hampdens and Wellingtons minelaying off the French coast. No losses.
Total effort for the night: 318 sorties, 5 aircraft (1.6 per cent) lost.
6/7 April 1942
Essen
The campaign against Essen continued, with 157 aircraft - 110 Wellingtons, 19 Stirlings, 18 Hampdens and 10 Manchesters. The crews encountered severe storms and icing and there was complete cloud cover over Essen. Only 49 aircraft claimed to have reached the target area. Essen reports only a few bombs, with light damage; no casualties are recorded. 5 aircraft - 2 Hampdens, 1 Manchester, 1 Stirling, 1 Wellington - lost.
With thanks to the RAF and USAAF.net!
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