Battle over Germany

[cardboard_killer]

[Starting a new thread for all the up coming strategic bombing over the occupied territories and Germany itself.]

 

[80 years ago today] "The industrial centre at Kiel was also heavily and successfully attacked, eighteen tons of H.E. being dropped. Hanover was bombed by Blenheims and, in addition to some large fires, three terrific green explosions were seen by aircraft returning from Berlin. With the exception of one medium bomber, all our aircraft returned from these operations

 

On the 23rd/24th, 127 bombers were despatched; the largest number employed on any one night during the week. Of these, forty-eight attacked Berlin, the target being the inland port near Putlitzstrasse Station. A number of heavy bombs were dropped, together with over 10,000 incendiaries.

 

Several fires were started and bursts were observed, but cloud and thick haze were encountered over the target, which, combined with the heavy A.A. fire and searchlight glare, made it difficult to estimate results accurately.

 

The industrial centre at Kiel was also heavily and successfully attacked, eighteen tons of H.E. being dropped. Hanover was bombed by Blenheims and, in addition to some large fires, three terrific green explosions were seen by aircraft returning from Berlin. With the exception of one medium bomber, all our aircraft returned from these operations.

Vertical night aerial photograph taken during a raid on Berlin, showing bombs exploding in the vicinity of the central cattle-market and railway yard (middle right), east of the city centre. The broad wavy lines are the tracks of German searchlights and anti-aircraft fire can also be seen. Also illuminated by the flash-bomb in the lower half of the photograph are the Friedrichshain gardens and sports stadium, St Georgs Kirchhof and Balten Platz. A mixed force of 49 aircraft took part in the raid, of which 5 were lost.

 

An evaluation photograph of the bombing of Berlin. The RAF were not yet capable of matching the levels of destruction being delivered by the Luftwaffe on Britain.

[Bremspropeller]

On 3/23/2021 at 12:15 PM, cardboard_killer said:

An evaluation photograph of the bombing of Berlin. The RAF were not yet capable of matching the levels of destruction being delivered by the Luftwaffe on Britain.

 

For the casual reader: North is down in this image.

 

The prominet road at the top is "Unter den Linden" with Brandenburger Tor just north of the "3".

The railway-station in the center is Friedrichstraße. The Reichstag is at the mid right-hand edge, farther north from "3".

 

"3" is today's US embassy.

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• A Gallup Poll shows that the people of Great Britain favour reprisal bombings of civilian areas of Germany by 53% to 38%, with 9% undecided. People in heavily blitzed areas are noticeably less in favour of reprisal bombing than those in areas which have escaped the worst of the raids. "

[sturmkraehe]

On 5/3/2021 at 5:29 PM, cardboard_killer said:

[80 years ago today] "• A Gallup Poll shows that the people of Great Britain favour reprisal bombings of civilian areas of Germany by 53% to 38%, with 9% undecided. People in heavily blitzed areas are noticeably less in favour of reprisal bombing than those in areas which have escaped the worst of the raids. "

 

This tells long tales about the compassion of those who lived through the hardship of bombings and those who didn't have first hand experience.  

[cardboard_killer]

21 minutes ago, sturmkraehe said:

 

This tells long tales about the compassion of those who lived through the hardship of bombings and those who didn't have first hand experience.  

 

Perhaps. No comparable poll is available for how the Germans felt in 1943-45, but I think there is a lot of anecdotal evidence that the majority opinion was pro-reprisal bombing. The Nazi government certainly thought so, hence the wasted resources bombing England and then the V-1/V-2 programs; but perhaps that was a self-fulfilling prophecy for the government--their propaganda led the people to want what the government already thought they wanted.

[sturmkraehe]

11 minutes ago, cardboard_killer said:

 

Perhaps. No comparable poll is available for how the Germans felt in 1943-45, but I think there is a lot of anecdotal evidence that the majority opinion was pro-reprisal bombing. The Nazi government certainly thought so, hence the wasted resources bombing England and then the V-1/V-2 programs; but perhaps that was a self-fulfilling prophecy for the government--their propaganda led the people to want what the government already thought they wanted.

 

Maybe you're right. I don't know and I am not sure if there is any historian that took a deeper look into this.

 

For sure Nazi-Germanry was a dictatorship while Britain was already a democracy. As such, there had been much less possibility to express one's opinion freely in Germany although the Nazi leadership made some effort to obtain public approval - by intimidation, manipulation or populistic measures as far as I understand. 

 

My reply was more related to my general observation that those who have own experience of suffering are usually less prone to wish this to others and I believe this holds true for many folks around the world. It is mostly observants who are mostly filled with feelings of revenge. Obviously this is not to be generalized to any individual.

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• 114 Wellington bombers attack Cologne and Münster. Sergeant-Pilot James Allen Ward of No.75 (New Zealand) Squadron receives the Victoria Cross after his aircraft is hit by a Bf-110, starting a fuel tank and engine fire. Sgt Ward, the co-pilot, volunteered to climb out a hatch, tethered by a rope. Kicking holes in the fabric covering for hand and foot holds, he is able to smother the fire with an extinguisher he carried with him.

- Shortly after this exploit, Churchill summons the Sergeant to No.10 Downing Street. The shy New Zealander stammers his answers to the prime minister's questions. Seeing his discomfort, Churchill says to him:
 

• “You must feel very humble and awkward in my presence.”

• Ward manages a “Yes, sir.” Prompting Churchill to reply,

• “Then you can imagine how humble and awkward I feel in yours.”

Sergeant Pilot Ward in his Wellington. He will command his own Wellington and be killed in a raid over Hamburg in September, one day after orders are approved to send him home. "

[cardboard_killer]

[cardboard_killer]

[Not quite Germany, but . . . 80 years ago today] "• The pilot of an RAF Blenheim is court-martialed after raiding the Le Havre area at very low altitude and sending his bomb load into a railway tunnel. Pilots have been ordered to avoid targets that are primarily civilian. "

[cardboard_killer]

[Not quite Germany, but . . . 80 years ago today] "• Thirty-six RAF Blenheims conduct a low level attack on a concentration of shipping spotted at the Rotterdam docks. Four bombers are shot down and the surviving pilots claim sinking 17 vessels massing 97,000 tons. There are actually no confirmed vessel losses this day, though several are damaged along with port facilities.

 

Rotterdam raid 16 July 41 from the dorsal turret of a Blenheim

 

The pictured Blenheim IV is shot down today shortly after the photo was taken with the loss of all aboard"

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] [from wikipedia] "No. 601 Squadron RAF was the only British unit to use the Airacobra operationally, receiving their first two examples on 6 August 1941. On 9 October, four Airacobras attacked enemy barges near Dunkirk, in the type's only operational action with the RAF. The squadron continued to train with the Airacobra during the winter, but a combination of poor serviceability and deep distrust of this unfamiliar fighter resulted in the RAF rejecting the type after one combat mission.[4] In March 1942, the unit re-equipped with Spitfires.

601 Squadron Airacobra I. The long-barrelled 20 mm Hispano-Suiza cannon Hispano is clearly shown, as are the .303 wing guns"

 

[The RAF is active bombing Germany and occupied areas; here is today's sorties] "During the day, the RAF sends 25 Blenheim bombers on sweeps along the French coast and north of there. The planes all return to base after attacking a few ships.

After a maximum effort on the night of August 5th, the RAF returns to the same three cities - Frankfurt, Mannheim, and Karlsruhe - with smaller follow-up raids after dark. All of the raids target railway yards.

The RAF sends 34 Whitleys and 19 Wellingtons against Frankfurt. The RAF loses 2 Whitleys and 2 Wellingtons.

The RAF sends 38 Welling against Mannheim. All of the planes return.

The RAF attacks Karlsruhe with 38 Hampdens. One aircraft fails to return.

RAF Bomber Command also sends 38 bombers (21 Hampdens, 11 Wellingtons, and 6 Whitleys) against the Calais docks. The bombers have difficulty finding the docks and only 14 are able to drop their bombs over the target. One Hampden fails to return."

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "After dark, the Soviets sends bombers to raid Berlin in the first Soviet air raid on the capital of the war (the British have been bombing Berlin since 25 August 1940 and the French first bombed it on 7 June 1940). This is Operation B (for Berlin), and it is the brainchild of Lt. Gen. Semyon F. Zhavoronkov and approved by Soviet Admiral Nikolay G. Kuznetsov. Stalin has given the final approval necessary for the operation.

The fifteen twin-engined Ilyushin DB-3T torpedo bombers of the 1st Torpedo Bomber Regiment of the Baltic Fleet (yes, it is the Soviet Navy that makes the attack) fly from Kagul airfield on the island of Saaremaa off the Estonian coast. The planes travel over 600 miles (1000 km), and all return safely. Damage is light - the planes carry less than 1000 pounds of bombs each because of the distance, and some fall relatively harmlessly in the suburbs - but the attack is trumpeted by Soviet propaganda. The Germans are taken by surprise and first ascribe the raid to the RAF, but later learns the truth.

 

Path of raid

 

Colonel Evgeniy N. Preobrazhenskiy, commander of the Soviet 1st Torpedo Bomber Regiment, inspects one of his Ilyushin DB-3T bombers prior to the first Soviet raid against Berlin on August 7-8, 1941.

 

Colonel Evgeniy N. Preobrazhenskiy, who led the 1st Torpedo Bomber Regiment, talks with navigator Pyotr Khokhlov, who flew on Operation B’s first mission against Berlin on August 7-8, 1941."

 

 

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Not to be outdone by the Navy, the Soviet Air Forces bomb Berlin with Yermolayev-2 long range diesel engine medium and Tupolev TB-7 four engine heavy bombers. One Tupolev is shot down by Soviet AA batteries and numerous engine failures force most to abort. The TB-7s will be withdrawn, and after the death of designer Vladimir Petlyakov, renamed the Pe-8. The Charomskiy M-40 engines will be replaced with Mikulin AM-35s and they will be returned to service but production will remain a low priority compared to tactical and medium bombers.

 

Yermolayev-2

 

Petlyakov-8"

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today]

 

"A Bristol Blenheim Mark IV of No. 226 Squadron demonstrates the effectiveness of its camouflage as it flies over the English countryside, 18 August 1941."

 

"Quadruple Lewis gun on an anti-aircraft mounting, 18 August 1941."

 

"During the day, the RAF sends 39 Blenheim bombers on a series of coastal sweeps over Holland and a Circus mission over Lille and Marquise. The pilots claim to sink two trawlers and to bomb Lille, for a cost of one Blenheim.

By prior arrangement between the RAF and Luftwaffe, the RAF successfully drops a spare prosthetic leg for captured RAF Wing Commander Douglas Bader while flying over St. Omer airfield. The Germans are somewhat nonplussed when the charitable gesture is followed by the RAF planes attacking the airfield.

After dark, RAF Bomber Command attacks Cologne and Duisburg. These cities both have been bombed recently so these can be considered follow-up raids.

The RAF puts 62 bombers (42 Hampdens, 17 Whitleys, and 3 Wellingtons) over Cologne. The RAF loses 5 Whitleys and a Wellington. The attack achieves little. . ..

The RAF puts 41 Wellingtons over Duisburg, losing two planes. The weather is clear, so the attack on railway yards is a success.

There is a minor raid by 11 Whitleys and 7 Wellingtons to Dunkirk, and one training sortie over Europe, both without loss.

The Luftwaffe sends a few bombers across to raid the Tyneside and Teesside areas. These are pinprick raids that occasionally hit a populated building, tonight West Hartlepool suffers a tragedy when an ambulance depot is hit with 23 people killed and 45 injured. In addition, about 100 people are made homeless. In Norton, bombs hit a house on Benson Street, killing three people, while next door three others are killed."

 

Sergeant Wacław Giermer of No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron in conversation with a nurse while recovering in a hospital, 18 August 1941. On 8 July 1941 while escorting a bomber raid on Lille in France Sergeant Giermer shot down an attacking Messerschmitt Bf 109. His Spitfire IIB (RF-F, P8247) was also damaged and his elbow smashed by the Messerschmitt's canon shell. Although attacked again and again by the enemy aircraft he fought his way back across the Channel where he emergency landed at RAF Manston.

 

[The Butt Report is released on this day, although it had been held up by Churchill for a number of days while he studied it]

 

Quote

The report was initiated by Lord Cherwell, a friend of Churchill and chief scientific advisor to the Cabinet. David Bensusan-Butt, a civil servant in the War Cabinet Secretariat and an assistant of Cherwell, was given the task of assessing 633 target photos and comparing them with crews' claims.^[1][2] The results, first circulated on 18 August 1941, were a shock to many, though not necessarily to those within the RAF, who knew the difficulty of night navigation and target finding.^[3]

Any examination of night photographs taken during night bombing in June and July points to the following conclusions:

1. Of those aircraft recorded as attacking their target, only one in three got within 5 mi (8.0 km).
2. Over the French ports, the proportion was two in three; over Germany as a whole, the proportion was one in four; over the Ruhr it was only one in ten.
3. In the full moon, the proportion was two in five; in the new moon it was only one in fifteen. ...
4. All these figures relate only to aircraft recorded as attacking the target; the proportion of the total sorties which reached within 5 miles is less than one-third. ...

The conclusion seems to follow that only about one-third of aircraft claiming to reach their target actually reached it.^[4]

Postwar studies confirmed Butt's assessment, showing that 49% of Bomber Command bombs dropped between May 1940 and May 1941 fell in open country.^[5] As Butt did not include those aircraft that did not bomb because of equipment failure, enemy action, weather or which failed to find the target, only about 5% of bombers setting out bombed within 5 mi (8.0 km) of the target.^[6]

 

https://etherwave.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/butt-report-transcription-tna-pro-air-14-12182.pdf

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today, near where I now live] "The presentation of diplomas by Mr Paul Riddle to Royal Air Force cadets of the first course, Class 42-B, at Embry-Riddle Company [Arcadia, Florida, USA]. The cadets wear the white flash identifying air crew in their caps. Shirts and trousers are USAAC issue."

 

© IWM (TR 80)

 

Royal Air Force cadets take a break from the hot Florida sun beside Stearman PT-17 primary trainers provided by the USAAF and painted in that services bright yellow and blue trainer colours.

© IWM (TR 89)

 

Royal Air Force cadets loading a torpedo onto an Albacore aircraft during training at Riddle Aerodrome.

© IWM (TR 85)

[ST_Catchov]

On 8/18/2021 at 10:28 PM, cardboard_killer said:

"A Bristol Blenheim Mark IV of No. 226 Squadron demonstrates the effectiveness of its camouflage as it flies over the English countryside, 18 August 1941."

 

What blasted Blenheim? 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "On a routine Roadstead mission over Ostend on 18 September 1941, RAF Hurricanes and Spitfires escorting Blenheim bombers of No. 88 Squadron encounter Focke Wulf Fw190 fighters for the first time. The encounter is fairly routine, with the eight Fw 190As of II./JG 26 shooting down two Blenheims at the cost of one of their own. The lost Luftwaffe pilot is Hptm. Walter Adolf, whose body washes up on a Belgian beach a few weeks later. Adolf finished with 45 victories and becomes the first combat casualty in the Fw 190.

 

Other RAF missions today include six Hampdens of RAF 5 (Bomber) Group sent to Abbeville, the headquarters of top Luftwaffe squadron JG 26. Another 11 bombers head to Rouen. The weather is very poor over England, with ground-haze over France, so only the bombers heading to Rouen actually make their bombing runs.

After dark, RAF Bomber Command sends 55 Wellingtons to bomb Karlsruhe. It is a dark night, however, and only 37 bombers can find the target, and their accuracy is poor. Another 10 Wellington bombers attack Le Havre without loss.

 

The air war over the Continent is slowly picking up, but it can fairly be called about even between the two sides at this point. The appearance of a completely new Axis fighter comes as a complete surprise to the British. They desperately want to get one of the new planes to test, but that does not happen until June 1942."

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Around this time, No.44 (Rhodesia) Squadron is re-equipping from Hampdens to be the first with the Avro Lancaster."

 

 

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "Hamburg, Germany was bombed for the first time by mainforce aircraft of RAF Bomber Command; this raid conducted by aircraft of No. 207 Squadron would last until the early hours of the next date. Altona railway station and other targets were hit. Hamburg would ultimately be bombed on seventeen occasions, destroying 75% of the city. ww2dbase

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Air Marshal Arthur Harris relieves Sir Richard Peirse as Head of Bomber Command. Harris is directed to implement the recently passed “Area Bombing Directive” which is intended to disrupt the German workforce. Professor Frederick Lindemann drew up the guidelines for the directive after studying results of the German bombing campaign against Britain. Calling it “dehousing”, bombers will shift targeting from manufacturing centres to the densely populated housing areas for German workers. Middle and upper class areas will be avoided as structures are generally too far apart to create firestorms. Lindemann is quite clear that the aim is to kill as many civilians as possible and break the spirit of the German workforce. The directive is controversial but the War Council decides it is currently the only way to effectively attack Germany directly and answer Soviet demands for action to relieve pressure on the eastern front.

 

- On taking command, “Bomber Harris” leaves no illusions on the new policy:

 

“The Nazis entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to bomb everyone else, and nobody was going to bomb them. At Rotterdam, London, Warsaw, and half a hundred other places, they put their rather naïve theory into operation. They sowed the wind, and now they are going to reap the whirlwind.”

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "RAF Bomber Command attacks Cologne with 135 bombers (112 reach the target) at the cost of one Manchester. There is extensive damage in the Nippes section of the city, especially to the Franz Cloud rubber works and the Land- und See-Kabelwerke A.G. factory. Five churches and 1500 homes are hit. This is the first successful raid led by the Gee navigational system. It also involves the use of "Pathfinder" bombers (though they are not yet called that) which drop flares and incendiary bombs to identify the target for following bombers. The results are good, with 237 separate fires started, 62 Germans killed, and 84 injured.

Bomber Command also sends two bombers to attack the port area at Ostend, 20 aircraft to bomb Boulogne (seven planes bomb the target), and 19 to bomb the port area of Dunkirk (11 complete the attack). One other bomber attacks Schiphol Airfield near Amsterdam, and one bombs Bonn. Another five Hampdens drop leaflets over France."

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "During the day, nine Boston bombers with a fighter escort attack the Le Trait, France, shipyard. There are no losses.

After dark, RAF Bomber Command launches its first major attack in about two weeks. Things do not go particularly well. The RAF sends 254 aircraft (192 Wellingtons, 26 Stirlings, 20 Manchesters, 9 Hampdens, and 7 Lancasters) in a full-strength attack against Essen. Nine aircraft (5 Manchesters, 3 Wellingtons, and 1 Hampden) are lost. The attack is intended to hit the Essen Krupps works, but savvy German deception efforts lure most of the bombers to a phony site at Rheinburg some 18 miles to the west. Damage is extremely light in Essen itself, and the Germans exactly 1627 propaganda leaflets dropped on the town along with 9 bombs and 700 incendiaries. Only one house is destroyed, with five people killed and 11 injured. The Krupp works are undamaged. One bomber on this mission bombs Airfield Haamstede near the town of Haamstede on the island of Schouwen-Duiveland in the southwest of the Netherlands

In secondary operations, 27 bombers attack St. Nazaire, 38 lay mines off Lorient, and 30 bombers drop leaflets over France. A single bomber hits Lannion airport in Brittany. Two bombers, a Wellington and a Hampden, are lost on these secondary raids. Overall for the night, 11 out of 349 aircraft are lost, a 3.2% loss rate.

The day is notable for a "first" when US Army pilot Major Cecil P. Lessig becomes the first US Army Air Force pilot to fly a mission over France during World War II. He flies a Spitfire with RAF no. 64 Squadron out of Hornchurch, England. Lessig is part of an abortive sweep of 34 fighters that is recalled when 50 Luftwaffe fighters appear on the scene."

 

"Lessig first served with the US Navy as an airplane mechanic before transferring to the USAAF in 1935. He served as a pilot with the 20th Pursuit Squadron, the [sic]

 

When the Eighth Air Force was established in the UK in 1942, Lessig was assigned to 8th Air Force Bomber Command as an operations and training officer, he later served as a liaison to the British Air Ministry and was appointed to the Combined Operations Planning committee as a representative of the 8th Air Force.

 

On 25 March 1942, after training at the RAF Staff college, Lessign became the first 8th Air Force pilot to fly a combat mission, when he accompanied the RAF on a fighter sweep over France. He then went on to fly one mission with the Royal Air Force bomber command and six combat missions with the Eighth Air Force accumulating 38 total combat hours in a Spitfire, a Lancaster, B-17s and B-26s in the European Theater."

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "During the day, the RAF sends four Boston bombers on a sweep off the Dutch coast. After dark, RAF Bomber Command mounts a major raid on Hamburg. It sends 272 bombers - 177 Wellingtons, 41 Hampdens, 22 Stirlings, 13 Manchesters, 12 Halifaxes, and 7 Lancasters - but the weather is poor, with icing and electrical storms. Only a small fraction of aircraft actually bomb Hamburg, causing 8 fires and killing 17 people and injuring 119. One of the bombers bombs Bremen by mistake and causes more militarily significant damage to the Vulkan shipyard there than by the main force over Hamburg. There also are minor raids by 13 Wellingtons to Le Havre, 3 Blenheims over Holland (Eindhoven, Haamstede, Leeuwarden and Schipol Airfields), 24 minelayers off Heligoland, and 16 leaflet-droppers over Belgium and France. The RAF loses four Wellingtons and a Manchester on the Hamburg raid and one of the leaflet planes for a 1.8% loss rate."

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] " During the day, the RAF sends a dozen Boston bombers to bomb the Mondeville power station without loss. After dark, RAF Bomber Command raids a new target, Dortmund, with 208 aircraft (142 Wellingtons, 34 Hampdens, 20 Stirlings, 8 Halifaxes, 4 Manchesters). Five Wellingtons and 4 Hampdens fail to return. As with the recently completed series of raids on Essen, bombing accuracy is poor and bombs strike all along a 40-mile stretch of the Ruhr River. In Dortmund, an industrial building and a military post are destroyed, along with four homes. Four other homes are damages with four deaths and 27 injured. In other operations, the RAF sends 23 bombers to Le Havre (which the bombers completely miss), five Blenheim intruders to Soesterberg airfield, and one Stirling on a minelaying mission off Heligoland. One bomber fails to return from the Le Havre mission.

 

The RAF loss ratio continues to be poor. In 237 sorties, the RAF loses ten aircraft for a loss ratio of 4.2%. Anything around 5% means the average flight crew required to fly 20 missions will likely not last his entire tour of duty.

 

The Luftwaffe has been strained ever since the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, which has given Great Britain relief from major air attacks. However, the German public has begun to notice the sting of RAF Bomber Command raids, particularly the destruction of the historic seaport of Lubeck on 28 March 1942. Hitler, always sensitive to public opinion although he rarely lets it interfere with his own plans, directs Hermann Goering's planes to retaliate. These missions become known as the "Baedecker Blitz" after the famous guidebook. as they pinpoint small British towns that typically appear in it."

 

"This operation is notable for the first use in the German high command of the word "Vergeltungsangriffe," or "Vengeance," whose use will become much more common as the war progresses.

 

The Luftwaffe assigns the task to Luftflotte 3. The bomber squadron Erg. U. Lehr Kdo 100 will use its Heinkel He 111 bombers as pathfinders for a larger bomber force. About 80 bombers of II and III./KG 2 and II./KG 40, equipped with Dornier Do-217 and other models, compose the main strike force. KuFlGr 106 will use its Junkers Ju 88 bombers and I./KG 2 with around 25 Do-217s will also participate.

 

Attacks are to begin in strength later in April. The main targets will include York, Norwich, Canterbury, Bath, and Exeter - all towns roughly of the same size and importance to England as Lubeck was to the Reich. A representative of the German Foreign Office, Gustav Braun von Stumm, offhandedly claims (without authorization) that "We shall go out and bomb every building in Britain marked with three stars in the Baedeker Guide." This, however, is not how the German leadership wishes to characterize the raids, which are intended to be solely retaliatory and not targeting any specific cultural areas."

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago last night] "After a lengthy period of preparation, RAF Bomber Command launches Operation Millenium at dusk. It sends over 1000 bombers to raid Cologne, the first 1000-plane raid of the war. The main targets are the city's chemical and machine-tool factories. The planes drop 1455 tons of bombs and incendiaries during a 90-minute attack. The firestorm kills 469 people and leaving 45,000 homeless.

 

[FlaK over Cologne, 30-May-1942]

 

Goering is having dinner at Veldenstein Castle when he gets a call from Josef Grohe, the Gauleiter of Cologne. During Grohe's explanation of the severity of the attack, Goering calls him a liar and hangs up. Soon after, another call comes in - this time from Adolf Hitler, who is in Berlin and has heard the same reports. Goering assures Hitler that at most 70 bombers attacked. When Goering learns later that air and flak defenses claim to have shot down 40 bombers, he claims it was a great defensive victory. Another 116 RAF bombers are damaged.

 

Winston Churchill, meanwhile, knows exactly how many bombers were sent - 1046 planes - and announces to the press that it was over 1000. Hitler, speaking to an aide, comments to an aide:

 

It is out of the question that only seventy or eighty bombers attacked. I never capitulate to an unpleasant truth. I must see clearly if I am to draw the proper conclusions. [!]

 

Aside from the devastation to the city, the raid begins a rift between Hitler and Goering that only grows with time.

 

A German flak ship shoots down an RAF Hudson III (AM842) out of North Coates during a convoy attack in the Waddenzee, South of Schiermonnikoog. All four crewmen perish.

 

The crew of a German flak ship showing off the wheel of an RAF Hudson III they shot down on 30 May 1942."

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• The RAF makes a thousand bomber raid on Bremen. Only 696 reach the proper target, but 27 acres of the business district are destroyed. An assembly shop of the Focke Wulf factory and the Bremer-Vulkan shipyard are damaged.

 

- Forty-nine aircraft are lost, half of which are from training squadrons with inexperienced crews flying worn out aircraft used to reach the "magic number".

 

Wellington B Mk. IV of No. 301 Polish Squadron downed in this Bremen raid"

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "Six American aircrews from the 15th Bomb Squadron (Light) operated six RAF Boston bombers to accompany six similar RAF aircraft on a bombing mission against enemy airfields in the Netherlands. This was the first USAAF Eighth Air Force operation of the war and resulted in its first casualties and first medal awards, for two aircraft failed to return from the mission. For returning home on one engine from this mission, Captain Charles Kegelman would be personally awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by Major General Spaatz, the then commander of the Eighth Air Force."

 

"The senior-ranking US officer was Captain Charles Kegelman (seen here second from left), who attacked De Kooy airfield in AL750/Z, crewed by Lieutenant R. M. Dorton, navigator, Sergeant Bennie Cunningham, rear gunner, and Technical Sergeant R. L. Goley, dorsal gunner. Kegelman’s starboard engine took a direct hit and burst into flames, and the propeller flew off. The right-wing tip struck the ground, and the fuselage actually bounced on the surface of De Kooy aerodrome, tearing a hole in the belly of the bomber. Lifting the Boston back into the air on one engine, Kegelman headed for the Channel. A flak tower on Den Helder airfield opened up, and the young captain returned fire with his nose guns. He lifted the Boston over the tower and headed for England with the right engine on fire. The fire went out over the Channel, and Kegelman continued home to Swanton Morley, hugging the waves across the North Sea." [Captain (later Colonel) Kegelman died in a midair collision in 1945 while commanding 42nd Bomb Group from Morotai (part of the Halmahera group of islands NW of New Guinea).]

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Following realization of oil refinery vulnerability to long range bombing, Romanian Escadrila 51 Vanatoare completes training for night interception missions with its Heinkel fighters."

 

Romanian He-112s"

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "In the first American “Hundred Bomber Raid”, 108 bombers are dispatched to bomb the steel and engineering works of the Compagnie de Fives and the locomotive and freight car works of Ateliers d’Hellemmes at Lille; 59 B-17s and 10 B-24s hit the primary targets; 2 B-17s hit the secondary target, Courtrai Airfield; the bombers claim 25 Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed (actual number = 2); 4 bombers are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 46 damaged."

 

"A B-17 of the 92nd BG in England, October 1942. This unit participated in the raid on Lille. (NARA)"

[No105_Swoose]

Flying Fortresses Bomb France (1942)  

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• A rare RAF low level daylight raid is made against the Philips radio works at Eindhoven, Holland. Philips is supplying Germany with a third of their radio and radar equipment. 47 new Venturas, 10 Mosquitos, and 36 Bostons are sent. Several aircraft carry cameramen who get impressive low level footage:

 

 

- Nine Venturas, one Mosquito, and four Bostons are lost."

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• For the first time, Oboe-equipped Mosquitos leading the way for a British raid on Düsseldorf drop ground markers rather than sky markers to guide follow-on Pathfinder aircraft, clearly improving British night-bombing accuracy.

 

 

• American bombers attack Germany for the first time: 58 B-17s bomb Wilhelmshaven and three are shot down.

 

[busdriver]

[delete bad joke] I enjoy and appreciate these posts you make.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 28, 2023 by busdriver

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• RAF begins the Ruhr bombing offensive with a strike on Essen with 442 aircraft: 157 Lancasters, 131 Wellingtons, 94 Halifaxes, 52 Stirlings, plus 8 Mosquitos as pathfinders. 4 Lancasters, 4 Wellingtons, 3 Halifaxes, and 3 Stirlings are lost, 3.2 per cent of the force.

 

- Below is a Lancaster’s typical bomb load, consisting of one 4,000 impact-fused HC bomb (‘cookie’), and 12 Small Bomb Containers (SBCs) each loaded with incendiaries, in this case, 236 x 4-lb incendiary sticks."

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• A hundred B-17s escorted by American Spitfires attack the Erla motor works outside Mortsel, Belgium, which is used to maintain Luftwaffe aircraft. Four bombers are shot down and thirteen damaged. Only two bombs hit the factory with many more hitting residential areas in Mortsel itself, killing 936 people including 209 children when their school takes direct hits. Over 1,600 people are injured, 600 of these seriously. It is Belgium’s worst loss of life in a single incident during the entire war.

 

Jongen tussen het puin in Mortsel, 5 April 1943"

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• A German night fighter crew defects to the United Kingdom, flying a Junkers Ju-88R there after faking an engine fire and diving off German radar off the coast of Norway. Flying to Scotland, the aircraft is intercepted by Spitfires. The crew (Oberleutnant Heinrich Schmitt and Oberfeldwebels Paul Rosenberger and Erich Kantwill) turn on the lights and lower the landing gear. The Spitfires escort the night fighter to RAF Dyce, which is hurriedly cleared by military police.

 

The Ju-88R is currently in the RAF Museum collection.

 

The defection gives British scientists and technicians access to the FuG-202 Lichtenstein B/C UHF-band airborne interception radar for the first time."

[busdriver]

12 minutes ago, cardboard_killer said:

A German night fighter crew defects to the United Kingdom, flying a Junkers Ju-88R there after faking an engine fire and diving off German radar off the coast of Norway. Flying to Scotland, the aircraft is intercepted by Spitfires. The crew (Oberleutnant Heinrich Schmitt and Oberfeldwebels Paul Rosenberger and Erich Kantwill) turn on the lights and lower the landing gear.

 

The defection of Herbert Schmid (Schmitt)

[Nocke]

Its a shame everybody knows figures like Hartmann and co., while heroes like these guys are generally totally unknown.

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• The YB-40 makes its first combat mission with seven of the gunships accompanying a hundred and sixty-nine B-17s against the submarine pens at Saint Nazaire. The YB-40 is a modification of the B-17F by Lockheed-Vega in order to provide extra defensive gunfire to a bomber formation. The gunships have the single waist guns replaced with twin .50 cals offset from each other so the gunners no longer bump into each other, a second dorsal turret, and a chin turret on the front. All total the gunship has sixteen machine guns, but as the Air Force required heavy armor to be installed, it is slower than the bombers it is escorting, particularly after the bombloads have been dropped. It also climbs only half as fast. The YB-40s today fall behind and lose contact. Eight B-17s are lost during the mission.

 

YB-40.

 

- The gunships will be taken in hand for modifications, but overall the project will be considered a failure due to the inability to keep up with the bombers. Several of the aspects of the YB-40 such as the chin turret and offset waist guns will however be incorporated into the B-17G. The XB-41, a single B-24D conversion, has already been deemed unsuitable for combat.

 

• Seven hundred and nineteen RAF bombers attack the I.G. Farben chemical plant and G&J Jaeger ball bearing factory at Wuppertal. Thirty-three bombers are lost and 2,450 people are killed on the ground."

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• The US Eighth Air Force makes a daylight raid on Wilhelmshaven and Cuxhaven, losing an unprecedented 85 out of the 225 bombers committed.

 

• An RAF Fortress attacks U-417 southeast of Iceland. Despite AA hits in the nose, cockpit, mainplanes, bomb bay and rear turret, the pilot drops his depth charges on target, sinking the U-boat with all hands. The Fortress is unable to reach base and is forced to ditch. They drift for three days before being spotted by an American PBY which attempts to land and pick them up, but crashes.

 

- An RAF Catalina responds and is able to land and pick up the Fortress crew but cannot find the PBY crew, which drifts for another five days before one survivor is rescued, eight of them having died of exposure.

 

• The He-219 nightfighter makes its combat debut, with ace Major Werner Streib flying the 9th prototype and claiming to down five Lancasters over Düsseldorf. The Heinkel is hit by machine gun fire from the bombers and crashes on landing, but the crew is unhurt. Streib enthusiastically calls for full production but this is delayed due to political rivalries between Josef Kammhuber, commander of the German night fighter forces, Ernst Heinkel who has openly criticized the government for forcing him to fire Jewish engineers and technicians, and Erhard Milch, responsible for aircraft construction in the Aviation Ministry.

 

The first ten production versions will not reach the Luftwaffe until late in the year, with the next eighty-five taking another full year."