The story
COLOGNE
289 aircraft - 109 Wellingtons, 74 Halifaxes, 62 Lancasters, 44 Stirlings. 18 aircraft - 6 Wellingtons, 5 Halifaxes, 5 Lancasters, 2 Stirlings - lost, 6.2 percent of the force.
This was not a successful raid. Winds were different from those forecast and the Pathfinders had difficulty in establishing their position and marking the target sufficiently to attract the Main Force away from a large decoy fire site which received most of the bombs. Cologne reports 1 'Luftmine' (out of 71 4,000-pounders carried by the bombing force), 3 other high-explosive bombs (out of 231) and 210 incendiary bombs (out of 68,590). 226 houses were damaged but only 2 of these received what was classed as 'serious damage'; 4 people were injured.
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6 Mosquitoes bombed a factory at Hengelo. 6 Bostons attempted to reach Le Havre but were turned back by bad weather. No aircraft lost.
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MINOR OPERATIONS
23 Wellingtons and 11 Stirlings minelaying off Biscay ports, 5 O.T.U. sorties. 2 Wellingtons and 2 Stirlings lost from the minelaying force.
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Every record is a doorway to a larger story. Explore Back to Normandy to discover more, or visit Fred Vogels' personal website to learn about the person and the projects behind it.