The story
MINOR OPERATIONS
76 Mosquitoes to Kassel and 4 to Mainz, 23 R.C.M. sorties, 9 Mosquito patrols, 2 Hudsons on Resistance operations. 1 Mosquito lost from the Kassel raid.
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1 Halifax flew an R.C.M. sortie.
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DUISBURG
286 Lancasters and 16 Mosquitoes of 1, 3 and 8 Groups. 2 Lancasters lost.
This raid was intended for the benzol plant in the Bruckhausen district of Duisburg. This target was identified visually by moonlight and much damage was inflicted on it. Further bombing also hit the nearby Thyssen steelworks, either by misidentification or by a simple spread of the bombing. Duisburg's local report assumed that the steelworks were the primary target and stated that 500 high-explosive bombs fell on the Thyssen premises. 163 houses around the target areas were destroyed and 289 seriously damaged. 152 people were killed; 115 of these were foreign workers or prisoners of war.
GELSENKIRCHEN
152 aircraft - 107 Halifaxes, 29 Lancasters, 16 Mosquitoes - of 4, 5 and 8 Groups. No aircraft lost.
This was a small area-bombing raid. The Bomber Command report states that 'moderate' damage was caused to residential and industrial areas. No further details are available.
Minor Operations: 48 Mosquitoes to Hannover and 6 to Dortmund, 50 R.C.M. sorties, 40 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.
Total effort for the night: 598 sorties, 2 aircraft (0.3 percent) lost.
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