Cyril T Anderson – Bomber Command History

The son of John & Gertrude Anderson.
Born 9 December 1913 Wakefield, Yorkshire.
Married: Rose Darby on the 16th Sepember 1939
Children: Graham Thorpe (b) 9 December 1942 (d) March 1943

Pilot Officer Cyril Thorpe Anderson (52024) - Pilot:

Killed in Action 23 September 1943 on 24th trip. Aged 29 years

Service History

Joined RAF 1934

Trg Dept 22 Oct 1934
Gosport 19 Feb 1935
Singapore 1 Apr 1936
Donisbristle 15 Nov 1937
Thorney Is 25 Mar 1938
No. 1 RW 3 May 1941
No. 3 ITW 17 May 1941
51 Gp Pool 12 Jul 1941
No. 33 SFT 9 Sept 1941 Canada
No. 7 Depot 3 Jan 1942
RAF TP 24 Jan 1942
No. 3 PRC 10 Feb 1942
No. 6 SFTS 1 Apr 1942
No. 25 OTU 7 Jun 1942
No. 1654 CU 12 Jan 1943

Squadrons

49 Sqdn 23 Feb 1943 Flew 7 operations
617 Sqdn 24 Mar 1943 Flew 1 operation
49 Sqdn 2 Jun 1943 Flew 16 operations

Promotions

Aircraftsman 2nd Class 22 Oct 1934
Aircraftsman 1st Class 19 Sept 1935
Leading Aircraftman 1 May 1937
Temporary Sergeant 2 Jan 1942
Temporary Flight Sergeant 1 April 1943
Pilot Officer 16 Apr 1943 - Gazetted: 29th June 943

25/26 February 1943
Nuremberg

337 aircraft - 169 Lancasters, 104 Halifaxes, 64 Stirlings. 9 aircraft - 6 Lancasters, 2 Stirlings, 1 Halifax - Lost 2.7% of the force.

Weather conditions were poor and the Pathfinders were late with their marking. Nuremberg's report shows that the bombing fell on the northern edges of Nuremberg and on the neighbouring town of Furth and in the countryside up to 12 Km further North. However more than 300 buildings were damaged in Nuremberg, including a historic military chapel which was burnt out. 12 civillians, 1 soldier on leave and 1 prisoner or war were killed in Nuremberg; 26 people were killed in Furth and there may have been further casualties in teh villages to the north.

Minor operations; 6 Mosquitoes to the Rhur (13 people were killed in Cologne), 54 aircraft minelaying of Brittany and in the Frisians, 20 O.T.U. sorties. No losses.

Total effort for the night: 417 sorties, 9 aircraft (2.2%) lost.

extract from
The Bomber Command War Diaries
By Middlebrook & Everitt

26/7 February 1943

Lancaster ED445

Sgt B A Gumbley, Sgt C T Anderson, (Typing error in the ORB), P/O A A Greamer, Sgt J W Tarner, Sgt C W Morley, Sgt E Hyde, Sgt J Wood.

T/o Fiskerton 1904 landing 0003 Target Duty Cologne

Bombed primary 2121 hours. 18,000 ft. Hazy, no cloud. Centre of concentration of P.F.F markers (Green) in sight. Bombs seen to explode in triangle of three markers. Losts of incendiaries seen around outside town. 4000lb well concentrated. Several aircraft were seen to fall, probably due to collisions or fighters.

26/27 February 1943 Cologne.

At 10.35hrs Group came on the 'blower' requesting 9 aircraft for a raid on Hamburg or Bremen.... But by 11.10 hrs this had been altered to Cologne. Sgt Price (ED431) and crew were the last away leaving Fiskerton at 19.25 hrs. Over 400 aircraft dropped their loads in the south-west aera of the city. Sgt Gumbley (ED445) and crew approached the target at 18,000 ft just after 21.20 hrs; he described the scene:
" The visibility was hazy with no cloud - we could see the green Pathfinder markers in the centre of the concentration and held this in our sights; bombs were seen exploding in a triangle of three markers and losts of incendiaries were seen strewn around outside of the twon; we saw several aircraft fall, probably due to collision or fighters!"
The flak came a little close to Sgt Stables (ED426) and crew in P-Peter. Sgt Stables reported:
" We had bombed from 17,000 ft in good visability. P/O Ken Gibson, our bomb aimer, held the green T.I. 's in teh sights - 11 minutes after leaving the target the port-inner engine failed due to flak damage sustained over the target , but we managed to return to base on the remaining 3 engines."
extract from

Beware Of The Dog At War
By John Ward

26/27 February 1943
Cologne

427 aircraft - 145 Lancasters, 126 Wellingtons, 106 Halifaxes, 46 Stirlings, 4 Mossquitoes. 10 aircraft - 4 Wellingtons 3 Lancasters, 2 Halifax, 1 Stirlings - Lost 2.3% of the force.

Most of the bombs from this large raid fell to the south-west of Cologne. Figures from Cologne itself suggest that only a quarter of the force hit the city. Anincreasingly familiar list of destroyed and damaged buildings was provided - much housing, minor indusrty, churches, historic buildings, public utilities and offices. The worst incedent was when 40 - 50 people were trapped in several blocks of flats hit by a 4,000 lb bomb in the Einhardstrasse. The wrekage began to burn before rescue workers could free the trapped people and most of them died. The total casualty list in Colognew was 109 people dead, more than 150 injured and 6,322 bombed ouy.

Minor operations: 2 Mosquitoes to Aachen, 21 aircraft minelaying in the Frisians, 4 O.T. U. sorties. No losses.

extract from

The Bomber Command War Diaries
By Middlebrook & Everitt

12/13 March 1943 Essen.

A large force of 457 bombers approached a well marked Essen, The Oboe Mossies had done their work well. Of the 10 crews from 49 Squadron, 6 had been to Stuttgart the previous night. For Sqt Cyril Anderson (ED416) and crew this was their first trip together... On leaving the target the port inner engine cut out, forcing them to return on 3 engines.
Just 11 days later, they along with another 49 Squadron crew (Sgt Townsend) wouls be selected by W/Cdr Guy Gibson for the new 617 Squadron; but below them on this night was the giant Krupps works which was in the centre of wide scale destruction.

The defences were stronger than the previous visit and resulted in 23 planes failing to return; 49's were all safe.

extract from
Beware Of The Dog At War
By John Ward

12/13 March 1943
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% 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 the later bombing drifting back to the north-western outskirts. Photographic interpretation assessed that Krupps received 30% 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 divison between overlapping built up areas.

Minor operations: 9 Stirlings minelaying in the Frisians, 7 O.T.U. sorties. No losses

extract from

The Bomber Command War Diaries
By Middlebrook & Everitt

22/23 March 1943 St Nazaire.

It had been ten days since the last operation. The English weather had been at its temperamental self. The days were fine with the early spring sunshine becoming pleasently warm. but each evening low flying mist crept over the Lincolnshire countryside. On the evening of Monday 22nd the waiting was over. St Nazaire, an easy one! Harris was keeping his pledge in the war against the U-boats. Over 280 heavies made a concentrated attack on the port area of this German submarine base.
W/Cdr Slee (ED702) in his favoured Lancaster, D-Dog, led the 14 strong contingent from 49 Squadron. As the Winco arrived over the target he found that a smoke screen was in operation; four times he and his crew were coned in searchlights, and on one occasion the mid upper gunner wa hit by shrapnel in the eye. Still unable to make a positive identification, W/Cdr Slee decided tp jettison the bomb load on their 5th run over the target.

Bad weather on the return to Englan caused 8 of 49's aircraft to land away at various other airfields, but by early morning all crews were accounted for.

extract from
Beware Of The Dog At War
By John Ward

22/23 March 1943
St. Nazaire

357 aircraft - 189 Lancasters, 99 Halifaxes, 63 Stirlings, 6 Mosquitoes. 1 Lancaster lost.

3 group sent out a recall order to all its Stirlings and only 8 carried on to bomb the target. Accurate marking led to a concentrated attack by 283 aircraft on the port area of St. Nazaire.

6 Wellingtons laid mines off Texel without loss.

extract from
The Bomber Command War Diaries
By Middlebrook & Everitt

26/27 March 1943 Duisburg.

10 Lancasters were being prepared for a trip to Duisburg. All 10 aircraft were away by 19.17 hrs but over the next 3 hours, 3 returned with faults; Sgt Price (ED426) had port outer engine trouble, Sgt Stables (ED584) had the same problem and Sgt Miller (ED411) and crew attempting their first operation, returned when the artifical horizon went u/s. The remaining 7 made successful sorties, all landing back at base shortly before midnight.

extract from
Beware Of The Dog At War
By John Ward

26/27 March 1943
Druisburg

455 aircraft - 173 Wellingtons 157 Lancasters, 114 Halifaxes, 9 Mosquitoes, 2 Stirling. 6 aircraft 3 Wellingtons, 1 Halifax, 1 Lancaster, 1 Mosquitoe - lost 1.3% of the force.

The Mosquito lost was the first Oboe Mosquito casualty. A message was recieved from the pilot F/Lt L J Ackland, that he was having to ditch in the North Sea, His body was never found but his navigator, W/O F S Sprouts, is belived to have survived.

This rid waswas one of the few failures of this series of attacks on Rhur targets. It was a cloudy night and for once, accurate Oboe sky marking was lacking because 5 Oboe Mosquitoes were forced to return early with technical difficulties anda sixth was lost. The result was a widely scattered raid. The only details reported from Duisburg were 15 houses destroyed and 70 damaged, with 11 people killed and 56 injured.

5 O.T.U. aircraft carried leaflets to France without loss

extract from
The Bomber Command War Diaries
By Middlebrook & Everitt

27/28 March 1943 Berlin.

By 10.30 hrs, orders were through requiring 10 aircraft for Hamburg or Berlin. At 15.00 hrs the target was confirmed as Berlin. W/Cdr Slee (ED702), flying his 24th operation with the Squadron, led 9 aircraft away from Fiskerson by 20.49 hrs the tenth Lancaster was scrubbed when Sgt pilot Stables reported unfit to fly.

All the remaining 9 crews completed their sorties, with both W/Cdr Slee and Sgt Price (ED721) sustaining flak damage to the underside of their repective Lancasters. 6 aircraft landed back at base and 3 landed at Scampton.

extract from
Beware Of The Dog At War
By John Ward

27/28 March 1943
Berlin

396 aircraft - 191 Lancasters, 124 Halifaxes, 81 Stirlings, 9 aircraft 4 Halifax, 3 Lancaster, 2 Stirling - lost 2.3% of the force.

This raid was basically a failure. The bombing force approached the target from the south-west and the Pathfinders established two seperate marking area's, but both well short of the city. No bombing photographs were plotted within 5 miles of the aiming point in the centre of Berlin and most of the bombing fell from 7 to 17 miles short of the aiming point.

The Berlin report confirms that damage in the city was not heavy, although the bombing was slighty more widespread than the bombing photographs indicated. The local report, however, contains several interesting aspects. Only 16 houses were classes as completely destroyed but many further buildings, including public utilities and factories, suffered light damage. These were typical results in a scattered raid; the local fire service were able to contain fires quickly. But 102 people were killed and 260 injured. The majority of these casualties occurred when two bombs at the Anhalter Station hit a military train bringing men on leave from the Russian front; 80 soldiers were killed and 63 injured. Our researcher in Berlin Arno Abendroth, states that the damage in Berlin would have been heavier if approximately one quarter of the bombs dropped had not turned out to be 'duds'; 'The English factories must have been under some stress,' he writes. Further out from the city centre, stray bombs hit several Luftwaffe establishments. 3 planes were destroyed and a flak position was hit at Tempelhof airfield; the flying school at Staaken airfield was damaged and a further 70 service personnel were killed or wounded. These casualties are in addition to those in Berlin.

But the most interesting story concerns a secret Luftwaffe stores depot in teh woods at Teltow, 11 miles south-west of the centre of Berlin. By chance, this was in the middle of the main concentration of bombs and a large quantity of valuble radio, radar and other technical stores was destroyed. The Luftwaffe decided that this depot was the true target fro the R.A.F. raid on this night and were full of admiration for the special unit which had found and bombed it so accuratley. The Gestapo investigated houses near by because someone reported that a light signal had been flashed to the bombers. This theory was still current when our research into this raid was carried out in 1983!

Minor operations: 24 aircraft minelaying in the Frisians and off Texel, 4 O.T.U. sorties. No losses

Total effort for the night: 424 sorties, 9 aircraft (2.1%) lost.

extract from
The Bomber Command War Diaries
By Middlebrook & Everitt

29/30 March 1943 Berlin.

The last operation of the month was a return trip to the 'Big City'. Twelve Lancasters were offered and a take of time wasset for 18.30 hrs. The take off time was altered twice before the Squadron departed to join the other 317 heavies heading for the German capital. Weather conditions were servere with icing problems and badly predicted winds. Three of the Squadrons aircraft were forced to return early; Sgt Grumbley (ED416) and crew in J-Jonny decided to head for Wittering's long grass runway, with their airspeed indicator u/s. Sgt Miller (ED584) and crew in U-Uncle struggled with 'temporary failure' of flying controls and engines due to icing; they managed to put down at Docking. Sgt Price (ED426) P-Peter, returned with Sgt Potts his navigator feeling seriously ill.

extract from

Beware Of The Dog At War
By John Ward

29/30 March 1943

Berlin

329 aircraft - 162 Lancasters, 103 Halifaxes, 64 Stirling. 21 aircraft 11 Lancasters, 7 Halifaxes, 3 Stirlings - lost 6.4% of the force.

Weather conditions were difficult, with icing an inaccurately forecast winds. The marking for the raid appeared to be concentrated but in a position which was too far south and the Main Force arrived late. Most of the bombs fell in open country 6 miles south east of Berlin. German records say that 148 people were killed in Berlin and 148 buildings were totally destroyed but there is some doubt about the accuracy of these figures.

extract from
The Bomber Command War Diaries
By Middlebrook & Everitt

16/17 May 1943
The Dams Raid

617 Squadron was formed by W/Cdr G Gibson on 21st March 1943 from selected crews in 5 Group and the Squadron trained for 6 weeks for this special operation. 19 Lancasters were despatched in 3 waves, each aircraft armed with the special 'bouncing bomb' developed by Barnes Wallis for attacking German dams. The entire operation was to be carried out at low level to escape attack from German night fighters and to release the bombs just above the water in the dams.

One aircraft had to return early after it struck the sea a glancing blow which tore off its bomb. 5 further aircraft were shot down or crashed before reaching their targets and one was so badly damaged by flak that it had to turn back. This left 12 Lancasters available to bomb the dams. W/Cdr Gibson's aircraft and 4 other crews bombed the Mohne Dam and breached it despite intense fire from light flak defending the dam. 3 aircraft went ton to bomb the Eder Dam and 1 the Schwelme Dam but without causing breaches in their walls. The twelfth surviving aircraft could not find its target in misty conditions and returned to England without dropping its bomb. 3 further Lancasters were shot down after they had bombed.

Total casualties were 8 aircraft out of 19 dispatched. It is estimated that 4 were shot by light flak, 1 crashed after being damaged by the explosion of its own bomb, two crashed after hitting electricity cables and 1 after striking a tree when its pilot was dazzled by searchlight. Of the 56 crew members in these planes, 53 were killed and only 3 became prisoners of war. 2 of them being badly injured. For his leadership of this amazing operation and for his courage in attacking flak positions at the Mohne Dam after carrying out his own bombing run Wing Commander Gibson was awarded the Victoria Cross. 34 other men received decorations.

The breaching of the Mohne and Eder Dams were a major achievements. The Mohne reservoir contained nearly 140 milion tons of water and was the major source of supply for the industrial Ruhr 20 miles away. The water released caused widespread flooding and disruption of rail, road and canal communications and of supply of electricity and water. The water supply network was particlary affected by the silting up of pumping stations by the flood water. It is not possible to state the effect of all this upon industrial production in precise terms but there was certainly some disruption and water rationing was in force until the winter rains came and filled the reservoirs again.

The Eder was even larger than the Mohne, containing 210 million tons of water. but it was 60 miles away from the Ruhr. The city of Kassel, 25 miles away, and the inland waterways system in the Kassel area, were more affected by the attack on the Eder than was the Ruhr area. The German view is that if the aircraft which which were allocated to the Eder had been switched to the Sorpe Dam, the effect upon the Ruhr's industrial production would have been extremely serious. But the Sorpe's construction was of a nature which made it a difficult target for the Wallis bomb, hence its low priority in the raid. The Sorpe reservoir just managed to keep the Ruhr supplied with water until the Mohne Dam was repaired.

The nunber of people drowne has been calculated at 1,294, most of them near the Mohne Dam. The town of Neheim-Husten, which was situated 5 miles downstream of the Mohne Dam took the full impact of the flood and at least 859 people died there. By one of those tragedies which periodically struck foreign workers and prisoners of war whose camps were near targets in Germany, 493 foreigners - mostly Ukrainian women landworkers - died in their camp at Neheim-Husten. It is believed that 58 or more of the dead were around the Eder dam. The total number of dead s quoted at 1,294 - was a record fro a raid on Germany, easily exceeding the 693 people killed at Dortmund in a raid earlier in May in which 596 aircraft took part.

Minor operations: 9 mosquitoes to Berlin, Cologne, Dusselforf and Munster, 54 aircraft minelaying pf Biscayports and the Frisians, 4 O.T.U. sorties 1 Wellington minelaying lost.

extract from
The Bomber Command War Diaries
By Middlebrook & Everitt

21/22 June 1943 Krefeld

A mixed force of over 700 bombers set out in moonlight to bomb this German city. Clear conditions enabled the Pathfinders to drop their ground markers perfectly. The resulting bombing destroyed almost 50% of the built up area in the city centre

However, there was a price to be paid. The clear moonlit conditions also assisted the night fighters and 44 of the raiders were shot down. The 7 aircraft from Fiskerton all made it home safely. But not without the odd moments of excitement.

extract from
Beware Of The Dog At War
By John Ward

21/22 June 1943
Krefeld

705 aircraft - 262 Lancasters, 209 Halifaxes, 117 Stirlings, 105 Wellingtons, 12 Mosquitoes. 44 aircraft - 17 Halifaxes, 9 Lancasters, 9 Wellingtons, 9 Stirlings were lost 6.2% of the force.

This raid was carried out before the moon period was over and the heavy casualties were mostly caused by night fighters. 12 of the aircraft lost were from the pathfinders; 35 Squadron lost 6 of its 19 Halifaxes taking part in the raud.

The raid took place in good visability and the pathfinders produced an almost perfect marking effort, ground-markers dropped by Oboe Mosquitoes being well backed up by the Pathfinder heavies. 619 aircraft bombed these markers more than three quatrers of them achieving bombing photogrpahs with 3 miles of the centre of Krefeld. 2,306 tons of boms weredropped. A large area of fire became establishedand this raged, out of cotro;, for several hours. The whole centre of the city approximately 47% of the build-up area - was burnt out. The total of 5,517 houses destroyed, quoted in Krefeld's records, was the largest figure so far i the war. 1,056 people were killed and 4,550 were injured. 72,000 people lost their homes; 20,000 of these were billeted upon familes in suburbs, 30,000 moved in with relatives or friends and 20,000 were evacuated to other towns.

Minor operations: 1 Mosquito to Hamborn, 15 O.T.U. sorties. No losses.

extract from
The Bomber Command War Diaries
By Middlebrook & Everitt

24/25 June 1943 Wuppertal

A force of 630 bombers, including 7 from 49 Squadron made a successful attack, after the PFF had accuratley placed their markers. Sgt pilots Jupp and Bull operated for the first time with their crews. non of the 34 aircraft lost were from Fiskerton, although Sgt Watson (JA691) and crew did not two combats with an enemy aircraft.. hits were observed striking the night-fighter, but results could not be confirmed. Seven Lancasters had landed safely back at Fiskerton by 04.29 hrs with the Waton kite sporting perforations in her port wing.

extract from
Beware Of The Dog At War
By John Ward

24/25 June 1943
Wuppertal

630 aircraft - 251 Lancasters, 171 Halifaxes, 101 Wellingtons, 98 Stirlings, 9 Mosquitoes. 34 aircraft - 10 Halifaxes, 10 Stirlings, 8 Lancasters, 6 Wellingtons - were lost 5.4% of the force.

This attack was aimed at the Elberfeld half of Wuppertal, the Barmen half of the town having been devastated at the end of May. The Pathfinder marking was accurate and the main force bombing started well but the creep-back became more pronounced than usual. 30 aircraft bombed targets in more western parts of the Ruhr; Wuppertal was at the eastern end of the area. These bombing failures were probably a result of the recent run of intensive operations incurring casualties at a high level. however, much serious damage was again caused to this medium-sized Ruhr town. The post war British survey estimated that 94% of the Elberfeld part of Wuppertal was destroyed on this night and Wuppertal's own records show that more bombs fell in Elberfeld than had fallen in Barmen on the last raid. 171 industrial premises and approximately 3,000 houses were destroyed; 53 industrial premises and 2,500 houses, were severely damaged. Approximately 1,800 people were killed and 2,400 injured.

There was a dramatic incident in Gelsenkirchen, 20 miles north of Wuppertal, when an R.A.F. 4 engined bomber crashed into the hall of a building which had been taken over by the Wehrmacht. The bomber blew up 'with a terrible explosion'. A German officer, 13 soldiers, the caretaker of the building and 5 Dutch trainee postal workers were killed and 2 more soldiers died later.

Minor Operations: 4 Mosquitoes to Duisburg, 4 Stirlings minelaying in the River Gironde, 7 O.T.U. sorties. No losses.

extract from
The Bomber Command War Diaries
By Middlebrook & Everitt

3/4 July 1943 Cologne

Good ground marking by the Oboe Mossies led to cologne receiving a severe blow from over 600 heavy bombers. 49 Squadron put up 13 Lancasters including a 'freshman' crew piloted by Sgt Coxill (ED721). The night saw the first deployment of a new German unit, Jagdgeschwader 300. Equipped with single engine fighters, it operated in and around the target area, the German pilots using the illumination from the target fires to spot their victims. The code name for this technique was Wilde Sau (Wild Boar). Bomber crews were unused to being attacked over the target and on this night several crews reported being shot at by other bombers. In reality these would have most likely have been 'Wild Boar' attacks.

Thirty aircraft failed to return from the raid; 12 were brought down in the target area, and both flak gunners and Wild Boar pilots claimed these as their victories. But it was flak that caused the only damage to two of49's aircraft

Sgt Eyles (ED438) reported:

" The leading edge inboard of the port outer engine was holed by flak, causing the rear turret to become u/s."

Sgt Jupp's (ED416) aircraft also received minor flak damage. All of the squadrons aircraft returned safely to base except for one which put down at Dunholme.

extract from
Beware Of The Dog At War
By John Ward.

3/4 July 1943
Cologne

653 aircraft - 293 Lancasters, 182 Halifaxes, 89 Wellingtons, 76 Stirlings, 13 Mosquitoes. 30 aircraft - 9 Halifaxes, 8 Lancasters, 8 Wellingtons, 5 Stirlings - were lost 4.6% of the force.

The aiming point for this raid was that part of Cologne situated on the east bank of the Rhine. Much industry was located there. Pathfinder ground marking was accurately maintained by both the Mosquito Oboe aircraft and the backers-up, allowing the Main Force to carry out another heavey attack on Cologne. 20 industrial premises and 2,200 houses were completely destroyed. 588 people were killed, approimately 1,000 were injured and 72,000 bombed out.

The night saw the first deployment of a new German unit, Jagdgeschwader 300. Equipped with single engine fighters using the 'Wilde Sau' (Wild Boar) technique. In this a German pilot used any form of illumination available over a city being bombed - searchlights, target indicators, the glow of fires on the ground - to pick out a bomber for attack. Liason with the local flak defences was supposed to ensure that the flak was limited to a certain height above wich the Wild Boar fighter was free to operate. R.A.F. crews were not used to meeting German fighters over a target city and it was some time before the presence of the new danger was realized. The reports on this night from 4 bombers that they had been fired on over the target by other bombers was almost certainly a reult of Wild Boar attacks. The new German unit claimed 12 bombers shot down over Cologne but had to share the 12 availablr aircraft found to have crashed with the local flak, who also claimed 12 successes.

Minor Operations: 4 Mosquitoes to Duisburg and 4 to Hamburg, 14 Stirlings minelaying in the Frisians. 2 Sirtlings lost.

extract from
The Bomber Command War Diaries
By Middlebrook & Everitt

8/9 July 1943

Lancaster ED702

P/O C T Anderson, Sgt R C Paterson, Sgt J P Nugent, Sgt W D Bickle, Sgt A W Buck, Sgt G J Green, Sgt E Ewan

T/o Fiskerton 2222 landing 0445 Target Duty Cologne

Koln 0126 hrs. 20,000 ft 030ºN 9 to 10/10th cloud at 14,000 ft Good vis above. 3 green steady 0112 hrs at posn A. One red with green stars 0116 hrs. 5 red with green stars in bomb sight. One very large explosion seen through cloud 0117 hrs lasting 8 seconds. Fires seen through cloud. 2 x 500 HE hung up. 16 bundles dropped. small flak hole in rear panel MU turret. PFF two minutes late on target.

8/9 July 1943 Cologne

After 5 ftrustrating days, in which 3 operations had been planned, only to be scrubbed at the last minute, 280 plus Lancasters eventually took off to pay another visit to Cologne. Fiskerton put up 14 aircraft, including two new crews piloted by S/Ldr Day (ED999) and Sgt Edy (DV178)

Accurately-dropped Oboe sky-markers led to a successful raid causing heavy damage to the western parts of the city. 49's crews reported good sorties although several suffered 'hang ups' caused by icing.

Cyril Anderson (ED702) and crew had returned to 49 Squadron to complete their tour, after taking part in the famous "Dams Raid". On this trip, the rear gunner had a close call when a piece of flak whipped through the Perspex of his turret, missing him by inches.

extract from
Beware Of The Dog At War
By John Ward

8/9 July 1943
Cologne

282 Lancasters and 6 Mosquitoes of 1, 5 and 8 Groups. 7 Lancasters were lost 2.5% of the force.

The Oboe sky marking was accurate and another successful raid followed, the north-western and south-western sections of the city being the worst hit. 19 industrial and 2,381 domestic buildings were destroyed in areas which had not been severely bombed until now. 502 civilians were killed but the fatalities at a prisoner of war camp and an artillery barracks which were both heavily bombed are not known. A further 48,000 people were bombed out, making a total of 350,000 people losing their homes during this series of 3 raids in a week.

Minor Operations: 8 Mosquitoes to Duisburg and 46 minelaying off Texel. Brittany and the Biscay coast. 27 O.T.U. sorties. . 1 Wellington minelayer lost.

extract from
The Bomber Command War Diaries
By Middlebrook & Everitt

9/10 July 1943

Lancaster ED999

P/O C T Anderson, Sgt R C Paterson, Sgt J P Nugent, Sgt W D Bickle, Sgt A W Buck, Sgt G J Green, Sgt E Ewan

T/o Fiskerton 2238 landing 0306 Target Duty Gelsenkirchen

Gelsenkirchen 0144 hrs. 21,000 ft 194º 10/10th cloud at 16,000 ft Red steady 0138 hrs, posn. X Green steady 0140 Posn Y.
1 Red with green stars in bomb sight. some glow seen through clouds, but could not identify as fires or searchlights. Flak through B/A's blister. PFF marker flares of great assistance. Route in and out free of A/A opposition.

9/10 July 1943 Gelsenkirchen

Over 400 bombers attempted to attack Gelsenkirchen through 10/10th cloud cover. Of the 6 Oboe Mosquitoes , 5 had equipment failure, and the 6th dropped his sky markers in error several miles away. Eleven aircraft were detailed from the Squadron, of which one had to return early Sgt Coxill's aircraft experienced trouble with the rear turret.

At de-brief the crews knew nothing of the Pathfinder's difficulties, and reported seeing markers and explosions in their sights. Three crews reported flak damage; P/O Anderson for the second night running had flak penetrate the Perspex, this time through the bomb aimer's Gilbert Green's blister. F/O Miller (ED726) received heavy flak damage to the bomb bay, with a piece of shrapnel hitting the mid upper gunner's parachute harness without causing him injury. F/Sgt Oglesby and crew brought ED426 back with flak holes in the port main plane, the fuselage and the starboard outer engine. The pilot and crew were all safe but the Lancaster was a write off. The crash landing was timed at 20.30 hrs.
Twelve aircraft failed to return, but all 49's came home safely.

extract from
Beware Of The Dog At War
By John Ward

9/10 July 1943
Gelsenkirchen

418 aircraft - 218 Lancasters, 190 Halifaxes, 10 Mosquitoes. 12 aircraft - 7 Halifaxes and 5 Lancasters - were lost 2.9% of the force.

This raid was not successful. The Oboe equipment failed to operate in 5 of the Mosquitoes and a 6th Mosquito dropped sky-markers in error 10 miles north of the target. Gelsenkirchen reports that's is southern districts were bombed and assumed that the main raid was on the neighbouring towns of Bochum and Wattenscheid, also to the south, which received many more bombs than did Gelsenkirchen. Gelsenkirchen itself suffered 10 industrial firms hit, including the all important synthetic oil refinery at Scholven, but damage in all places was only light. 41 people died in Gelsenkirchen.

Minor Operations: 4 Mosquitoes to Nordstern 18 aircraft minelaying in the Frisians and of Texel. No loses.

extract from
The Bomber Command War Diaries
By Middlebrook & Everitt

12/13 July 1943

Lancaster ED702

P/O C T Anderson, Sgt R C Paterson, Sgt J P Nugent, Sgt W D Bickle, Sgt A W Buck, Sgt G J Green, Sgt E Ewan

T/o Fiskerton 2221 landing 0821 Target Duty Turin

Turin 0200 hrs. 17,000 ft 132º . Vis good, slight haze. Saw yellow T.I.'s fires seen, 2 red T.I.'s dropped 2 miles to port at 0150 hrs. But main concentration was clearly in town. Red T.I. in bombsight . Marker seen to cascade. Intense and well concentrated fire round concentration of markers. slight icing most of way over France and the Alps and electric storms frequent in South of France. Route trouble free. Landed at Upper Heyford because of fuel shortage.

12/13 July 1943 Turin

The allies war against the Italians was going very well. With extra preasure brought to bear by Bomber Command it was hopped that Germanys ally would soon capitulate. Turin was selected for an attack by 295 Lancasters. The route took them well out into the Bay of Biscay and across southern France thus avoiding heavily defended areas. Many crews reported heavy icing over France, and encountering thunder clouds over the Alps. S/Ldr Gilpin was forced to return early with the rear turret u/s.

These long haul trips to Italy were not considered easy by crews and to prove the point 13 Lancasters failed to return. Among those missing was F/O Joh Miller and crew from 49 Squadron. Perhaps the raid three nights earlier had been an omen. ED726 with the Millar crew had been blasted by flak over Gelsenkirchen. It had been repaired just in time for them to take part in the Turin trip, the crews fateful 13th operation. The crew have no known grave, but are remembered on the Runnymede Memorial.

Severely low on fuel, four of the squadrons aircraft made for southern airfields. P/O Tomlin landed at Christchurch, P/O Anderson at Upper Heyford and W/O Morrison at Exeter. P/O Moss (ED999) and crew (having been in A Apple over 10 hrs) landed at a very small fighter airfiled of Bolt Head, and in doing so ' scuffed it up a little ' much to the displeasure of the Station Commander.

extract from
Beware Of The Dog At War
By John Ward

12/13 July 1943
Turin

295 aircraft - of 1, 5 and 8 Groups. 13 Lancasters - were lost 4.4% of the force.

The main weight of this raid fell just north of the centre of Turin in clear weather conditions. The only report obtainable from Italy states that 792 people were killed and 914 injured. This was Turins highest number of air raid fatalities during the 10 raids made on the city by Bomber Command during the war.

Among the R.A.F. casualties on this night was Wing Commander J D Nettleton, Commander of 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron who had won the Victoria Cross for low level daylight raid on Augsburg in April 1942. Nettletons Lancaster was shot down by a German night fighter over the Channel while returning from Turin. He and his crew all died and their names are on the Runnymede Memorial.

Minor Operations: 22 Wellingtons minelaying of Brest, Lorient and St. Nazaire. 19 O.T.U. sorties. No loses.

extract from
The Bomber Command War Diaries
By Middlebrook & Everitt

24/25 July 1943

Lancaster JA892

P/O C T Anderson, Sgt R C Paterson, Sgt J P Nugent, Sgt W D Bickle, Sgt A W Buck, Sgt G J Green, Sgt E Ewan, P/O Hidderley (2nd Pilot)

T/o Fiskerton 2225 landing 0332 Target Duty Hamburg

Hamburg 0107 hrs. 20,000 ft 163º . Haze. Vis good, no cloud. 2 Red T.I.'s in bomb sight. 1 very large explosion 0107½ hrs. Many fires burning all over city when leaving target. Monica, 20 unidentified. Window 80 bundles. Blacked out M/U turret through deposit. An extremely large explosion in centre of target area of brilliant yellow colour.

24/25 July 1943 Hamburg

On the same night as shuttle raiders were returnign from Africa. 'Bomber Harris' decided to launch his follow up to the Battle of the Ruhr... an all out attack on the Reich's second largets town. Hamburg. What was to become known as the Battle of Hamburg consisted of 4 major raids in which it was intended to drop 10,000 tons of bombs. For the first raid conditions were clear... H2S marking was used as the distance was too great for Oboe. A mixed force of 791 bombes was dispatched of which 728 aircraft dropped 2,284 tons of boms in 50 minutes.

WINDOW

A new and major technical inovation was introduced during the Battle of Hamburg. For some time scientists had been devising a way of jamming German ground rada. They came up witha very simple and relatively inexpencive method which was given the code name 'Window' . Window was in fact strips of black paper 27 centimetres long and 2 centimetres wide with aluminium foil stuck to one side. Dropped in bundles of 2,000 strips held together with elastic bands, it formed a hyge cloud of aluminium strips. The German Wurzburg rada sets which controlled the night-fighter interception and radar - predicted flak guns plus the smaller airborne Lichtenstein radar sets, were all rendered useless when swamped by so may false echoes.

Leading aircraft from 791 strong Main Force started releasing bundles of Window shortly after passing over Heligoland; the effect was immediate as the German defences were thrown into total confusion. F/O Kirton (ED416) and crew, who flew over the target with their starboard inner engine u/s, reported

" One bundle of Window carried away the Marconi aerial - Searchlights weaving about hopelessly "

The metod of releasing Window by most crews was via the aircraft's window, which resulted in several aerials being lost. P/O Cyril Anderson (JA892) and W/O Jock Morrison (LM306) had the disconcerting dilemma of having the mid- uupw turret blacked out by these metal strips. The only other incident occured when F/Lt Taylor's (ED721) mid-upper gunner, Sgt Stopani, succeeded in scaring away a night fighter with one short burst, just after leaving the target.

extract from
Beware Of The Dog At War
By John Ward

24/25July 1943
Hamburg

791 aircraft - 347 Lancasters, 246 Halifaxes, 125 Stirlings, 73 Wellingtons. 12 aircraft - 4 Halifaxes, 4 Lancasters, 3 Stirling, 1 Wellington - were lost 1.5% of the force.

Window was used for the first time on this night. Conditions over Hamburg were clear with only a gentle wind. The marking- a mixture of H2S and visual - was a little scattered but most of the target indicators fell near enough to the centre of Hamburg for a concentrated raid to develop quickly. 728 aircraft dropped 2,284 toms of bombs in 50 minutes. Bombing photographs showed that less than half of the force bombed within 3 miles of the centre of Hamburg and a creep-back 6 miles long developed. But because Hamburg was such a large city severe damage was caused in the centre and north western districts particularly in Altona, Eimsbuttel and Hoheluft The Rathaus, the Nikolaikirche, the main police station, the main telephone exchange and the Hagenbeck Zoo ( where 140 animals died) were among the well known Hamburg landmarks to be hit. Approximately 1,500 people were killed. This was the greatest number of people killed so far in a raid outside the area in which Oboe could be used.

extract from
The Bomber Command War Diaries
By Middlebrook & Everitt

25/26 July 1943 Essen

The following evening with the concept of Window still fresh, 705 bombers were sent to Essen ; 49 Squadron dispatched 14 aircraft and took the opertunity to blood 3 new crews; they were piloted by W/O McCabe RNZAF (ED448), F/O Coates (JA892) and F/O Cottngham (LM306). Three other crews were forced to return early with mechanical problems.

The raid was successful with the Krupps works being heavily damaged; Bomber Command lost 26 aircraft. All 49's Lancasters returned to base including Sgt Petty (JA894) and crew who had a lucky escape when they were hit by incendiaries from an aircraft above; one bomb actually passed through the spinner of the starboard outer engine and penetrated the cowling fortunately without catching fire.

extract from
Beware Of The Dog At War
By John Ward

25/26July 1943
Essen

705 aircraft - 294 Lancasters, 221 Halifaxes, 104 Stirlings, 67 Wellingtons, 19 Mosquitoes. 26 aircraft - 10 Halifaxes, 7 Stirling, 5 Lancasters,4 Wellington - were lost 3.7% of the force.

The commander of the American VIII Bomber Command, Brigadier-General Fred Anderson, observed this raid as a passenger in an 83 Squadron Lancaster.

This was an attept to achieve a good raid on a major target while the effects of Window were still fresh. The raid was successful, with particular damage being recorded in Essen's industrial areas in the eastern half of the city. The Krupps works suffered what was probably its most damaging raid of the war. 51 other industrial buildings were destroyed and 83 seriously damaged. 2,852 houses were destroyed. 500 people were killed, 12 were missing and 1,208 were injured. The 500 dead are recorded as follows: 165 civilian men, 118 woman, 22 children, 22 servicemen, 131 foreign workers and 42 prisoners of war.

Minor Operations: 6 Mosquitoes to Hamburg and 3 each to Cologne and Gelsenkirchen, 17 aircraft minelaying in the Friesians, 7 O.T.U sorties. No losses.

extract from
The Bomber Command War Diaries
By Middlebrook & Everitt

27/28 July 1943

Lancaster ED702

P/O C T Anderson, Sgt R C Paterson, Sgt J P Nugent, Sgt W D Bickle, Sgt A W Buck, Sgt G J Green, Sgt E Ewan,

T/o Fiskerton 2222 landing 0313 Target Duty Hamburg

Hamburg 0102 hrs 20,000 ft 2/10th light wispy cloud, very hazy. Posn X track flares 0015 and 0020. Window 5 bundles carried 4 bundles off. After having left target at 0124 hrs large explosion was observed in target area, Orange glow seen 150 miles away. PFF procedure very good, of great assistance. Route not so good as previous once as track passes near and sometimes through flak and searchlight areas.

27/28 July 1943 Hamburg

This is the night of the notorius firestorm, when 729 aircraft dropped 2,326 tons of bombs on Hamburg. The Squadron contributed 16 Lancasters to the attack, again with three new crews, those of ; Sgt Gospel (ED721), P/O Hidderley (ED416) and Sgt Greig (EE134)

Window was used and it would appear with grat success, P/O Tomlin (ED805) reports:

' Defences seemed hopelessly confused, searchlights probably numbered 100 were directed aimlessly.'

Losses were lighter than usual with 17 aircraft failing to return.

Bob Petty (JA894) and crew were once again involved in trouble, this time with a night fighter. The 'Monica' system had been successful in warning them of the approach of a JU88... the enemy fighter turned in to attack from teh starboard quarter and Eddie Smith the rear gunner opened fire. The fighter then broke away to try his luck from the port quarter; both Eddie and the mid upper gunner 'Shorty' Roberts were waiting ... they opened fire togehter causing the night fighter to burst into flames and they reported seeing it hit the ground.

All 49's aircraft were safely home by 04.19 hrs.

extract from
Beware Of The Dog At War
By John Ward

27/28 July 1943
Hamburg

787 aircraft - 353 Lancasters, 244 Halifaxes, 116 Stirlings, 74 Wellingtons. 17 aircraft - 11 Lancasters, 4 Halifaxes, 1 Stirling, 1 Wellington - were lost 2.2% of the force.

The American Commander, Brigadier-General Anderson, again flew in a Lancaster and watched this raid.

The centre of the Pathfinder marking- all carried out by H2S on this night was about 2 miles east of the planned aiming point in the centre of the city, but the marking was particularly well concentrated and the main force bombing 'crept back' only slightly. 729 aircraft dropped 2,326 tons of bombs.

This was the night of the firestorm, which started through an unusual and unexpected chain of events. The temperature was particularly high (30º centigrade at 6 o'clock in the evening) and the humidity was only 30%, compared with an average of 40 - 50 per cent for this time of year. There had been no rain for some time and everything was very dry. The concentrated bombing caused a large number of fires in the densely built up working class districts of Hammerbrook, Hamm and Borgfeld. Most of Hamburg’s fire vehicles had been in western parts of the city, damping down the fires still smouldering there from the raid of 3 nights earlier, and only a few units were able to pass through roads which were blocked by the rubble of buildings destroyed by high-explosive bombs early in this raid. About half way through the raid, the fires in Hammerbrook started joining together and competing with each other for the oxygen in the surrounding air. Suddenly, the whole area became one big fire with air being drawn into it with the force of a storm. The bombing continued for another half hour, spreading the firestorm area gradually eastwards. It is estimated that 550-600 bombs fell into n area measuring only 2 miles by 1 mile. The firestorm raged for about 3 hours and only subsided when all burnable material was consumed.

The burnt out area was almost entirely residential. Approximately 16,000 multi-storeyed apartment buildings were destroyed. There were a few survivors from the firestorm area and approximately 40,000 people died, most of them by carbon monoxide poisoning when all the air was drawn out of their basement shelters. In the period immediately following this raid, approximately 1,2000,000 people - two thirds of Hamburg’s population - fled the city in fear of further raids.

Minor Operations: 3 Mosquitoes to Duisburg, 6 Wellingtons mine-laying in the River Elve, 11 O.T.U sorties 1 Mosquito lost.

extract from
The Bomber Command War Diaries
By Middlebrook & Everitt

2/3 August 1943 Hamburg

Bomber Command pressed on with its fourth and final attack during the battle against Hamburg when 740 bombers were dispatched in servere weather conditions.

Of the 15 aircraft sent by the Squadron all encountered thunderstormsand lightning which gave icing problems. Five crews turned back unable to climb above the thunderheads; F/O Smeaton (ED416) and crew flying J - Jonny, managed to complete a successful first sortie.
Pathfinders were unable to mark accurately and as a result the bombing was scattered; 30 aircraft failed to return but all 49's made it back to base.

extract from
Beware Of The Dog At War
By John Ward

2/3 August 1943
Hamburg

740 aircraft - 329 Lancasters, 235 Halifaxes, 105 Stirlings, 66 Wellingtons, 5 Mosquitoes - 30 aircraft - 13 Lancasters, 10 Halifaxes, 4 Wellington, 3 Stirling - were lost 4.1% of the force.

The bombing force encountered a large thunderstorm area over Germany and the raid was a failure. Many crews turned back early or bombed alternative targets. At least 4 aircraft, probably more, were lost because of icing, turbulence or were struck by lightning. No Pathfinder marking was possible at Hamburg and only scattered bombing took place there. Many other towns in a 100 mile area of Northers Germany received a few bombs. A sizable raid developed on the small town of Elmshorn, 12 miles from Hamburg. It is believed that a flash of lightning set a house on fire here and bomber crews saw this and though a gap in the storm clouds and started to bomb the fire. 254 houses were destroyed in Elmshorn and 57 people were killed, some of them refugees from recent raids on Hamburg.

Minor Operations: 5 Mosquitoes to Duisburg, 6 Wellingtons mine-laying in the River Elbe, 12 O.T.U sorties 1 Wellington minelayer lost.

extract from
The Bomber Command War Diaries
By Middlebrook & Everitt

15/16 August 1943 Milan

A force of 199 Lancasters made a concentrated attack on a now exhausted Milan, but this time as the crews returned across France the German fighters were waiting. Seven lancasters failed to return home. 49 Squadron had dispatched 8 aircraft of which one failed to return: It is believed that P/O Leslie Gospel and crew were hit by flak on their homward leg. The lancaster crashed near Rugles in France, at 02.45hrs. Two of the survived and both managed to escape back to England. Tragically one of them Sgt Philo, was later killed on ops (3-4-45) The remainder of the crew are buried at Cheronvilliers, France.

extract from
Beware Of The Dog At War
By John Ward

15/16 August 1943
Milan

199 Lancasters continued the offensive against Milan, claiming particularly concentrated bombing. 7 aircraft were lost, mostly to German night fighters which were awaiting the bombers return over France.

Minor Operations: 5 Mosquitoes to Berlin, 63 aircraft minelaying in the Frisians and off Texel and off all the main Brittany and Biscay ports, 16 O.T.U sorties 2 Wellington & 1 Stirling from the minelaying force were lost.

extract from
The Bomber Command War Diaries
By Middlebrook & Everitt

23/24 August 1943 Berlin

Bomber Comman now began a short series of raids to test the German defences around Berlin in preperation for the forthcoming winter campaign. Over 725 bombers were dispatched with 9 being sent by the Squadron and 9 safely returning .
This raid resulted in Bomber Command suffering the greatest loss so far in one night, when 56 aircraft failed to return. 49 Squadron crews reported numerous cones of searchlights working in co-operation with nightfighters..

extract from
Beware Of The Dog At War
By John Ward

23/24 August 1943
Berlin

727 aircraft - 335 Lancasters, 251 Halifaxes, 124 Stirlings, 17 Mosquitoes.
The Mosquitoes were used to mark various points on the route to Berlin in order to help keep the main force on the correct track. A Master Bomber was used; he was Wing Commander J E Fauquier, the Commanding Officer or 405 (Canadian) Squadron. (The famous ' Johnny ' Fauquier later commanded 617 Squadron) 56 aircraft - 23 Halifaxes, 17 Lancasters, 16 Stirlings - were lost 7.9% of the heavy bomber force . This was Bomber Commands greatest loss of aircraft in one night so far in the war.

The raid was partially successful. The Pathfinders were not able to identify the centre of Berlin by H2s and marked an area in teh southern outskirts of the city. The main force arrived late and many aircraft cut a corner and approached from the south-west instead of using the planned south-south-east approach; this resulted in more bombs falling in open country than would otherwise have been the case. The German defences- both flak and night fighter - were extremely fierce.

Much of the attack fell outside Berlin - 25 villages reported bombs, with 6 people killed there - ans in teh sparsely populated southern suburbs of the city. Despit this, Berlin reports the most serious raid of the war so far, with a wide range of industrial, housing and public properties being hit. 2,611 individual buildings were destroyed or seriously damaged. The worst damage was in teh residential area of Lankwitz and Lichterfelde and the worst industrial damage was in Mariendorf and Marienfelde; these districts are all well south of the city centre. More industrial damage was casued in the Tempelhof area, nearer the centre, and some of those bombs which actually hit the centre of the city fell by chance in the 'goverment quarter', where the Wilhelmstrasse was recorded as having not a building undamaged. 20 ships in the city's canals were sunk.

Casualties in Berlin were heavy considering the relatively inacurate bombing 854 people were killed: 684 civilians, 60 service peronel, 6 air raid workers, 102 foreign workers (89 of them women) and 2 prisoners of war. 83 more civilains were classed as missing. The citys officials who complied the reports found out that this high death rate was caused by an unusually high proportion of the dead not having taken shelter, as ordered, in the allocated air-raid shelters. Our excellent adviser from Berln Arno Abendroth, who was living in the city at this time evacuated in September 1943, says that when Doktor Goebbels, who as well as being the Minister of Propoganda was also Berlin's Gauleiter, recieved the report on the number of people killed outside the shelters, Geobbels ' nearly went nuts'.

Minor Operations: 40 Wellingtons minelaying in teh Frisians and off Lorient and St. Nazaire, 22 O.T.U. sorties . No losses

extract from
The Bomber Command War Diaries
By Middlebrook & Everitt

31 August - 1 Sepember 1943

On the last night of August 1943, the Squadron dispatched 16 Lancasters to Berlin, but Sgt Blackmore was soon forced to return when JB139 developed intercom problems.

Strong German defences plus difficulties encountered by the H2S equipped Pathfinders combined to make this raid a failure. Once again the force of 622 raiders suffered heavily, with 47 of their number going down.

All 49's aircraft came home unscathed, although F/O Thomas (ED438) and crew in R - Robert, tangles with a night fighter over the target. Both gunners, Sgts Minns and Boxer managed to drive this attacker off.

extract from
Beware Of The Dog At War
By John Ward

31 August - 1 September 1943
Berlin

622 aircraft - 331 Lancasters, 176 Halifaxes, 106 Stirlings, 9 Mosquitoes.
47 aircraft - 20 Halifaxes, 17 Stirlings, 10 Lancasters - were lost 7.6% The Stirling casualties were 16.0%! Approximately two thirds of the bombers were shot down by German fighters operating over or near Berlin. The use of 'fighter flares', dropped by German aircraft to 'mark' the bomber routes into and awy from the target, was noted for the first time in Bomber Command records.

This raid was not successful. There was some cloud in the target area; this together with difficulties with H2S equipment and probably the ferocity of the German defences, all combined to cause the Pathfinder markers to be dropped well south of the centre of the target area and the Main Force bombing to be even further away. The main bombing area eventually extended 30 miles back along the bomber's approach route. 85 dwelling houses were destroyed in Berlin but the only industrial building hit classed as damaged - 4 severely and 3 lightly. The only important public buildings hit were the headquarters of the Berlin Inland canal and Harbour system The state police hospital and some market halls. 66 civilians and 2 soldiers were killed. 109 people were injured and 2,784 bombed out.

After this raid Gauleiter Geobbels ordered the evacuation from Berlin of all children and all adults not engaged in war work to country areas or to towns in Eastern Germany where air raids were not expected.

Minor Operations: 30 O.T.U. Wellingtons with 6 Mosquitoes and 5 Halifaxes of the Pathfinders bombed an ammunition dump in the Foret de Hesdin and 6 Mosquitoes were sent to Brauweiler. No aircraft lost

extract from
The Bomber Command War Diaries
By Middlebrook & Everitt

3/4 Sepember 1943
Berlin

Because of recent heavy losses suffered by Halifaxes and Stirlings when attacking Berlin, only Lancasters were sent on this raid. Some damage was caused by the 316 Lancasters but most bombs fell short of their target. Again losses were heavy with 22 lancasters going down.

The Squadron put up 13 aircraft, but F/Sgt Barnes (DV238), returned early with the rear turret u/s. Many fighters were evident as F/Sgt Kirton (ED416) confirms:

" An ME 110 made 3 attacks on us just after 'bombs gone' at 23.35hrs. The gunners returned fire and the fighter's port engine was seen to catch fire and he disappeared from view. Another enemy aircraft made a single attack, but we did not open fire on this."

On return from Berlin, the Lancasters were diverted to bases in Northern England. This was the last thing F/O Harold Coates and crew needed after nursing their badly damaged Lancaster back from Berlin, where JB126 had been hit by flak 10 seconds after bombs away!

When 15 miles from Blyth off Tynemouth, in heavy mist, the struggling pilot was forced to ditch his crippled plane. Such were the sea conditions that the aircraft broke up on impact. Sadly Sgt Pawson, Kendrew and Jack died before the Rescue launch arrived. The unfortunate flight engineer , Sgt Sacre, was seen in the water but subsequently lost. The pilot was last seen in his cockpit under the water. Sgt Underwood the bomb aimer and Sgt Nelson RAAF air gunner were both taken to hospital with slight injuries and shock. The ditching occurred at 03.57 hrs. Of the remaining Squadron aircraft, six landed at Middleton St George, one at Croft, one at Wyton and three at base.

extract from
Beware Of The Dog At War
By John Ward

3/4 Sepember 1943
Berlin

316 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitoes; because of the high casualty rates among Halifaxes and Stirlings in recent Berlin raids the heavy force was compossed only of Lancasters. 22 Lancasters were lost, nearly 7.0% of the Lancaster force. The Mosquitoes were used to drop "spoof" flares well away from the bombers route to attract German night fighters.

The raid approached Berlin from the north east but the marking and bombing were, once again, mostly short of the target. That part of the bombing which did reach Berlin's built up area fell in residential parts of Charlottenburg and Moabit and in the industrial area called Siemensstadt. Several factories were hit and suffered serious loss of production and among 'utilities' put out of action were major water and electricity works and one of the Berlin's largest breweries. 422 people were listed as killed - 225 civilians, 24 servicemen, 18 men and 2 women of the air raid services, 123 foreign workers - 92 women and 31 men. 170 further civilians were 'missing'. The Berlin records also mention the deaths of another soldier and 7 'criminal' assistants when the two delayed action bombs on which they were working exploded; these 'criminals' could earn remission of their sentences by volunteering for this work on un-exploded and delayed action bombs.

extract from
The Bomber Command War Diaries
By Middlebrook & Everitt

5/6 Sepember 1943
Mannheim

Twelve Lancasters for Fiskerton took part in this doublew attack by 605 bombers on Mannheim / Ludwigshaven, which caused servere damage to both targets.

Thirty four of the raiders were brought down on a night when fighters were very active.. it was a fighter that raked the underneath of J-Johnny flown by F/sgt Kirton (ED416) and crew of 49 Squadron, shortly after 'bombs away'. The gunners, Don Burdett and Nick Batty, who together had successfully fought and downed an ME 110 two nights previously, had little chance this night. Don Burdett did manage to shout a warning but terminal damage was sustained in the first attack .. the bomb bay wa ablaze and the port wing was burning furiously. Bomb aimer 'Pop' Mathison was having trouble opening the nose hatch so Sgt Wilby the flight engineer went down to help. Wireless operator Jim Davis informed his skipper that he was ready to bale out and went to the rear door. 'Bunny' Perry, navigator, was standing beside the pilot when the aircraft suddenly lurched and he was thrown to the floor... the next thing he remembered was floating down by parachute.

Next day 'Bunny' Perry was re-united with his skipper in a German hospital where F/Sgt Kirton was being treated for a knee wound.. the pilot remembered preparing to leave his seat when the aircraft exploded and he too found himself parachuting down.

extract from
Beware Of The Dog At War
By John Ward

5/6 Sepember 1943

Mannheim / Ludwigshafen

605 aircraft - 299 Lancasters, 195 Halifaxes, 111 Stirlings. 34 aircraft - 13 Halifaxes, 13 Lancasters, 8 Stirlings - lost 5.6% of the force.

The target area for this double attack was clear of cloud an the Pathfinder marking plan worked perfectly. Ground markers were placed on the eastern side of Mannheim so that the bombing of the Main Force - approaching from the west could move back across Mannheim and than into Ludwigshafen on the western bank of the Rhine. The creep-back did not become excessive and severe destruction was caused in both targets.

Mannheim's normally detailed air raid report does not give any specific details of property damage or casualties. It i probable that the raid was so severe that the normal report gathering and recording process broke down. The Mannheim records speak only of a 'catastrophe' and give gebberal comments on the activities of the air raid services and the behaviour of the population which are both described as 'vorbildich' (exemplary)

More detail is available from Ludwigshafen where the central and southern parts of the town were devastated. The fire department recorded 1,993 separate fires including 3 classed as 'fire areas' and 986 as large fires; 139 of the fires were in industrial premises, 1,080 houses, 6 military and 4 industrial buildings were destroyed and 8 more industrial buildings were seriously damaged, including the I.G. Farben works. 127 people are described as suffering eye injuries. The relatively small number of deaths may be an indication that many of the German cities were evacuating parts of their population after the recent firestorm disaster at Hamburg and other heavy raids.

extract from
The Bomber Command War Diaries
By Middlebrook & Everitt

23/24 Sepember 1943
Mannheim

The northern part of of Mannheim suffered bombing from 628 aircraft. It cost Bomber Command 18 Lancasters 7 Halifaxes and 7 Wellingtons.

After mid afternoon bus trip from Fiskerton 13 crews had climbed away from Dunholme Lodge by 18.56 hrs. Once over the target, fighters were once aian much in evidence. The use of searchlights in co-ordination with fighters accounted for many losses.

Pilot Ernie Webb's Lancaster became coned with searchlights over the target area and he and the crew knew what to expect next!.. the fighter came in from the rear hitting and causing damage to the aft portion of the Lancaster Percy Horten in the rear turret returned fire, driving off their attacker, whilst evasive action was taken by the pilot. The pilot managed to find dark sky and relative safety. It wasn't until much later that percy revealed that he had in fact been hit by cannon fire.

On return to base Ernie was given a priority landing with his gunner needing urgent attention. The aircraft DV238 O - Oboe, was taken to No. 52 Base pool for repair and later returned to ops with 44 Sqd. Percy was taken to RAF Hospital Rauceby for repair, then he too returned to ops with his old .. and welcoming crew.

Sadly, the luck of two other 49 Squadron crews did not hold out. Cyril Anderson and his 'Dambuster' crew flying in the winco's aircraft D - Donald , failed to return and were all later reported killed this would have been their 22nd operation as a crew Andersons 24th. The crew are buried at Rheinburg in Germany. F/Sgt Dave Stanton and crew on only their third trip were also missing and they were too later reported killed; their graves are in the Durnbach Cemetery Germany.

extract from
Beware Of The Dog At War
By John Ward

23/24 September 1943

Mannheim

628 aircraft - 312 Lancasters, 193 Halifaxes, 115 Stirlings, 8 Mosquitoes. 5 B-17's also took part. 32 aircraft - 18 Lancasters, 7 Halifaxes, 7 Wellingtons, - lost 5.1% of the force.

This raid was intended to destroy the northern part of Mannheim, which had not been so severely hit in the successful raid earlier in the month. The Pathfinder plan worked well and concentrated bombing fell on the intended area. although later stages of the raid crept back across the northern edge of Ludwigshafen and out into the open country. The following buildings were destroyed in Mannheim: 927 houses, 20 industrial premises, 11 schools, 6 public buildings and a church. A large number of other buildings were damaged and approximately 25,000 people were bombed out of their homes. 102 people were killed and 418 injured. There were more than 2,000 fires.

Local records (provided on this night by Herr Erwin Folz and not from the local authorities) show the later stages of the bombing crept back across the Rhine to the northern part of Ludwigshafen, where the I.G Farben factory was severely damaged, and then to the smaller outlaying towns of Oppau and Frankenthal. Ludwigshafen suffered 47 people killed and 260 injured. A further 8,000 people were bombed out, of whom 4,289 were foreign workers. The centre of the small town of Frankenthal was completely burnt out and 38 people killed there.

extract from
The Bomber Command War Diaries
By Middlebrook & Everitt

Pilot Officer Cyril T Anderson

Operations completed by Anderson & Crew

Nuremberg

Part of the station ORB for 25/26 February 1943

Cologne

Part of the station ORB for 26/7 February 1943

Essen

Part of the station ORB for 12/13 March 1943

St. Nazaire

Part of the station ORB for 22/23 March 1943

Duisburg

Part of the station ORB for 26/27 March 1943

Berlin

Part of the station ORB for 27/28 March 1943

Berlin

Part of the station ORB for 29/30 March 1943

Ruhr Valley Dams Raid

Part of the station ORB for 16/17 May 1943

Krefeld

Part of the station ORB for 21/22 June 1943

Wuppertal

Part of the station ORB for 24/25 June 1943

Cologne

Part of the station ORB for 3/4 July 1943

Cologne

Part of the station ORB for 8/9 July 1943

Gelsenkirchen

Turin

Part of the station ORB for 12/13 July 1943

Hamburg

Part of the station ORB for 24/25 July 1943

Essen

Part of the station ORB for 25/26 July 1943

Hamburg

Part of the station ORB for 27/28 July 1943

Hamburg

Part of the station ORB for 2/3 August 1943

Milan

Part of the station ORB for 15/16 August 1943

Berlin

Berlin

Berlin

Part of the station ORB for 3/4 September 1943

Mannheim

Part of the station ORB for 5/6 September 1943

Mannheim