Mission 456:
In the late afternoon 73 of 104 B-17s and 148 of 176 B-24s strike 6 V-weapon sites and supply installations, 3 railroad bridges, a highway bridge, and an airfield in N France. Escort is provided by 443 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; 1 P-47 is lost; afterwards a squadron of P-47s dive-bombs 3 airfields in the Conches area.
Attacking at altitudes ranging from 5,100 to 8,500 feet (1,554 to 2,591 m), 285 of 310 B-29s bomb the Nagoya, Japan urban area with incendiaries during the night of 11/12 Mar destroying 2.05 square miles (5.31 square km); 6 others hit a secondary target; 1 B-29 is lost.
234 Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos of No 5 Group carried out an accurate attack on the oil refinery at Harburg. 14 Lancasters lost. No 189 Squadron, from Fulbeck, lost 4 of its 16 Lancasters on the raid. One local report states that a rubber factory was seriously damaged as well as the oil targets.
During the predawn hours, 279 B-29s, of 325 airborne, blast the Tokyo urban area with incendiaries, destroying 267,171 buildings, about one-fourth in the city, killing 83,793 and wounding 40,918 people and destroying 15.8 square miles (40.9 square km); this death total is the highest of any single day's action during the war, exceeding the...
1,055 aircraft - 561 Lancasters, 463 Halifaxes, 31 Mosquitos - to Essen. This was the heaviest raid on this target so far in the war and the number of aircraft dispatched was also the greatest number to any target so far; these new records were achieved without the Lancasters of No 5 Group being included. 5 Lancasters and 3 Halifaxes were lost. 4,538 tons of bombs were dropped. More than 90 per...
169 B-17's are dispatched against the submarine pens and locks at Saint-Nazaire, France; 147 aircraft hit the target at 1706-1711 hours local; we claim 6-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; we lose 8 B-17's, 1 is damaged beyond repair and 58 are damaged; casualties are 10 WIA and 71 MIA. 7 YB-40's, heavily armored B-17's with increased firepower for es...
At the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, 18 July 1942, during reinstallation of her 14"/50 main battery guns. A large floating crane is alongside her starboard bow, placing a gun in Turret # 1. Guns are also visible in Turret # 3, whose top has not yet been put in place.
This raid was the first major success for Bomber Command against a German target. The attack was carried out in good visibility, with the help of an almost full moon and, because of the light defences of this target, from a low level...
461 Lancasters and 153 Halifaxes to Stuttgart. 17 Lancasters and 4 Halifaxes lost, 4.6 per cent of the force. This was the first of 3 heavy raids on Stuttgart in 5 nights and the only report available is a composite one for the 3 raids. The 3 raids caused the most serious damage of the war in the central districts of Stuttgart which, being situated in a series of narrow valleys, had eluded Bomb...
378 Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 5 and 8 Groups attacked railway targets at Culmont, Revigny and Tours. Culmont and Tours were accurately bombed but cloud interfered with the all-No 1 Group raid at Revigny and only half of the force bombed. 10 Lancasters were lost on the Revigny raid and 2 on the Culmont raid.
224 aircraft - 184 Lancasters, 30 Stirlings, 10 Mosquitos - of Nos 3 and 8 Groups attacked railway yards at Lens and Valenciennes. The raids took place in clear visibility and both targets were accurately bombed. 6 Lancasters were lost from the Lens raid and 5 Lancasters from Valenciennes.
The first 12,000-lb Tallboy bombs developed by Barnes Wallis were used on this night by 617 Squadron in a raid on a railway tunnel near Saumur, 125 miles south of the battle area. The raid was prepared in great haste because a German Panzer unit was expected to move by train through the tunnel. The target area was illuminated with flares by 4 Lancasters of 83 Squadron and marked at low level by...
39 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of No 5 Group to a small ball-bearing factory at Annecy on the France-Switzerland border. Weather en route was very bad and only 2 Mosquito marker aircraft reached the target, but the factory was accurately bombed. No aircraft lost.
Ninth Air Force: In Germany, 564 A-20s, A-26s and B-26s strike oil storage at Deggendorf and Annaburg, marshalling yards at Memmingen and Wittenberg, ordnance depots at Nordlingen and Straubing, and other targets including flak positions; fighters escort the bombers, fly patrols, sweeps, and armed reconnaissance, attack special targets, and cooperate with US ground forces including the VII Corp...
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In France, close to 400 B-26s and A-20s attack an ammunition dump in Foret de Blois, shipping at Brest, and other targets, including rail bridges at 10 locations in N and W France; fighters escort IX Bomber Command aircraft, cover ground forces, and fly armed reconnaissance in the wide areas of N France (around Paris, as far S as Orleans, and as far NE as ...
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 315: 754 bombers and 867 fighters are dispatched to bomb airfields, aircraft production industries and targets of opportunity in Germany; the bomber claim 20-1-36 Luftwaffe aircraft and the fighters claim 124-6-58 fighters; 40 bombers and 17 fighters are lost; details are:
1. Of 281 B-17s dispatched, 109 hit Erding Air Depot, 84 hi...
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