Bomber Command raid - night of 17/18 March 1945

MINOR OPERATIONS
66 Lancasters and 29 Halifaxes from training units on a sweep over Northern France to draw up German fighters, 39 Mosquitoes to Nuremberg, 38 to Berlin and 2 each to Mannheim and Stuttgart, 6 R.C.M. sorties, 15 Mosquito patrols. 1 Intruder Mosquito of 100 Group lost.

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BENZOL PLANTS
100 Lancasters of 3 Group carried out G-H attacks on plants at Hattingen and Langendreer. Both raids appeared to be accurate. No aircraft lost.

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WITTEN
324 aircraft - 259 Halifaxes, 45 Lancasters, 20 Mosquitoes - of 4, 6 and 8 Groups. 8 aircraft - 6 Halifaxes, 1 Lancaster, 1 Mosquito - lost.
This was a successful area raid carried out in good visibility. 1,081 tons of bombs were dropped, destroying 129 acres, 62 percent of the built-up area (according to the post-war British Bombing Survey Unit). The only German report states that the Ruhrstahl steelworks and the Mannesmann tube factory were severely damaged.
HANAU
277 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitoes of 1 and 8 Groups. 1 Lancaster lost.
This was another accurate area raid. The local report states that 50 industrial buildings and 2,240 houses were destroyed. The Altstadt was completely devastated and, says the report, all of the town's churches, hospitals, schools and historic buildings were badly hit. Approximately 2,000 people were killed, of whom 1,150 were regular residents of Hanau; the remaining dead were presumably evacuees or refugees from bombed cities.
SUPPORT AND MINOR OPERATIONS
70 aircraft on a sweep over France, 30 Mosquitoes to Berlin, 24 to Kassel and 18 to Nuremberg, 40 R.C.M. sorties, 53 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.
Total effort for the night: 844 sorties, 9 aircraft (1.1 percent) lost.