6 Group Unavailable
769 aircraft- 49 5 Lancasters, 264 Halifaxes, lo Mosquitoes. 35 aircraft- 22 Halifaxes, I 3 Lancasters - lost, 4·6 per cent of the force. I02 Squadron, from Pocklington, lost 5 of its 16 Halifaxes on this raid, 2 more crashed in England and the squadron would lose 4 more aircraft in the next night's raid. The bomber approach route took a wide swing to the north but, once again, the German controller managed to feed his fighters into the bomber stream early and the fighters scored steadily until the force was well on the way home. The diversions were not large enough to deceive the Germans.
The Berlin area was, as so often, completely cloud-covered and what happened to the bombing is a mystery. The Pathfinder sky-marking appeared to go according to plan and crews who were scanning the ground with their H2S sets believed that the attack fell on eastern districts of Berlin. No major navigational problems were experienced. No photographic reconnaissance was possible until after a further 4 raids on Berlin were carried out but the various sources from which the Berlin reports are normally drawn all show a complete blank for this night. It is not known whether this is because of some order issued by the German authorities to conceal the extent of the damage or whether the entire raid missed Berlin.
source: The Bomber Command War Diaries, Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt
419 Moose Squadron (Moosa Aswayita) RAF Middleton St George. Halifax BII aircraft HX 162 VR-X had reached the turning point, about sixty miles north-east of the target of Berlin, Germany, when it was attacked by a German ME-109 fighter aircraft and set on fire. The pilot ordered the bombs jettisoned and then turned the aircraft for home. The Halifax was further damaged by flak as it neared Hamburg, Germany and the crew was ordered to abandon the aircraft
The Halifax crashed near Horst, Steinburg, Germany
Crew members Sergeant Sanderson and Sergeant Ferguson, were fatally wounded in the attacks and did not escape the Bomber
Sergeant FG Sanderson (RCAF) and Sergeant DJ Ferguson (RAFVR) were killed in action
Flying Officer HL Bullis (RCAF), Warrant Officer Class 2 AH Towers (RCAF), FS MA Potter (RCAF), FS R Bonathan (RAF), and TSergeant BH Boisvert (USAAF) survived and were all taken as Prisoners of War
419 Squadron RCAF 1941 to 1945 Crew of Halifax HX162
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