The 7 Sqdn left from Oakington at 1942-04-13 at 22:25. Loc or duty Essen

On Monday 13 April 1942, a member of the 7 Sqdn, Flight Sergeant J Hankin, 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 22:25.

He flew with a Short Stirling (type I, serial N3679, code MG-D).

Campaign report of the USAAF:

No report

Campaign report of the RAF:

12/13 April 1942

Essen

251 aircraft - 171 Wellingtons, 31 Hampdens, 27 Stirlings, 13 Halifaxes, 9 Manchesters. 10 aircraft - 7 Wellingtons, 2 Hampdens, 1 Halifax - lost.
173 aircraft claimed to have bombed Essen but their bombing photographs showed a wide area of the Ruhr. Essen's records show a slight improvement in the bombing. 5 high-explosive and 200 incendiary bombs hit the Krupps factory and a large fire was started there. 28 private dwellings were destroyed and 50 seriously damaged. 27 people were killed, 36 injured and 9 were missing.
This raid concluded a disappointing series of raids on this target, which was judged to be the heart of the German armaments industry. There had been 8 heavy raids since the first Gee raid on 8/9 March.

These are the conclusions:


Aircraft dispatched:	1,555
Crews reported bombing Essen:	1,006
Aircraft lost:	64
Aircraft bombing photographs within 5 miles of Essen:	22

Essen's records show that industrial damage was caused on only 2 occasions - a fire in the Krupps factory and a few bombs on some nearby railway lines - that 63 civilians were killed and that a modest amount of residential property had been hit.

Minor Operations: 27 aircraft to Le Havre, 18 Whitleys to Genoa (the target was cloud covered), 4 Blenheim Intruders to Holland, 20 aircraft minelaying in the German Bight, 7 leaflet flights to France. No losses.

Total effort for the night: 327 sorties, 10 aircraft (3.1 per cent) lost.

13/14 April 1942

Minor Operations: 4 Wellingtons to Boulogne, 47 aircraft minelaying in the Frisians and the German Bight, 3 leaflet flights. 1 Stirling minelayer was lost.

With thanks to the RAF and USAAF.net!

This record can also be found on the maps of Back to Normandy with Google coordinates. You can find the maps by clicking on this link on this location.

There are several possibilities to investigate the flight records on Back to Normandy. All the flights are plotted on maps, sorted "day by day", "by squadron", "by type aircraft", "by year or month", "by location" and much more! Don't miss this!!!

If you have any information that you want to share, please add your comment at the bottom of this record. Or send your information to [email protected]. This information will be added to the record.

Your photos and your information are very welcome! The young do care and with your help we keep up the good work.

we do care