The story
FLYING-BOMB SITES
311 aircraft - 171 Lancasters, 115 Halifaxes, 25 Mosquitoes - of 1, 3, 6 and 8 Groups attacked 4 launching sites and the Fort-d'Englos storage site. All targets were accurately bombed and no aircraft were lost.
FORT DE CHTELLERAULT
176 Lancasters and 14 Mosquitoes of 1 and 5 Groups successfully attacked an oil-storage dump. 2 Lancasters lost.
Minor Operations: 3 Mosquitoes to Osnabrck, 21 R.C.M. sorties, 40 Mosquito patrols, 16 Mosquitoes minelaying in the Dortmund-Ems Canal and 10 Lancasters minelaying off Biscay ports, 20 aircraft on Resistance operations, 15 O.T.U. sorties. No aircraft lost.
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DUGNY
98 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitoes of 1 and 8 Groups attacked aviation-fuel storage tanks at Dugny, near Paris. The bombing started badly but then became concentrated. No aircraft lost.
FERME-DU-FORESTAL
60 Lancasters of 1 Group and 20 Pathfinder Mosquitoes attempted to bomb a flying-bomb site but cloud caused difficulties and only 17 Mosquitoes and 13 Lancasters attacked, possibly because the 1 Group aircraft were unused to the Oboe-leader technique. No aircraft lost.
4 Wellingtons flew R.C.M. sorties without loss.
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OIL DEPOTS
215 aircraft - 109 Lancasters, 101 Halifaxes, 5 Mosquitoes - of 5, 6 and 8 Groups attacked depots at Bordeaux and La Pallice successfully and without loss.
DIJON
104 Halifaxes of 4 Group and 20 Lancasters of 1 and 8 Groups attacked a railway junction and the railway yards; much damage was caused. 2 Halifaxes were lost and a further Halifax crashed or crash-landed in the liberated part of Normandy.
Minor Operations: 32 Mosquitoes to Berlin, 3 Lancasters of 8 Group to Bremen, 8 R.C.M. sorties, 37 Mosquito patrols, 12 Lancasters minelaying off Biscay ports, 8 aircraft on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost. The 3 Pathfinder Lancasters which bombed Bremen were the first Lancaster Mark VTs flown on operations by Bomber Command and they dropped the command's first 10,000-lb bombs.
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You have arrived at just one small part of Back to Normandy — a personal project dedicated to preserving stories, images, music and memories of the Second World War.
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.