The 7 Sqdn left from Oakington at 1941-04-21 at 21:50. Loc or duty Koln

On Monday 21 April 1941, a member of the 7 Sqdn, Flight Lieutenant R A Crucikshank, took off from Oakington in the United Kingdom. His mission is mentioned elsewhere on Back to Normandy. You can find the other details of this mission by searching here. Training and cargo flights are not separately mentioned as a mission. The plane left at 21:50.

He flew with a Short Stirling (type I, serial N6009, code MG-).

Campaign report of the USAAF:

No report

Campaign report of the RAF:

April

A succession raids against the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau (or 'Salmon' and 'Gluckstein' as Bomber Command's crews had christened them) eventually forced the captain of the Gneisenau to order his vessel to be moored out in Brest harbour. The vessel was hit the next day by a torpedo dropped from a Beaufort of Coastal Command and the subsequent damage took six months to repair. The aircraft was shot down during the attack, but it's pilot, Flying Officer K Campbell, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. For two nights, Kiel was subjected to attacks by a total of 389 aircraft. The raids were deemed a success by the crews and were probably the most successful raids against a single target during the war to date. Along with Brest (10 raids), Kiel was the main objective of many operations (6 raids) with Bremen and Hamburg other main targets. The end of the month saw a new method of operation for 2 Group and its Blenheim with the Channel Stop. Aircraft, operating with fighter escort, attempted to stop any German vessels passing through the narrowest part of the Channel by day whilst fast patrol boats attempted the same by night. Operations against oil facilities did continue, but with poor results.

With thanks to the RAF and USAAF.net!

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