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81(5.aircraft- 620 Lancasters, 184 Halifaxes, 12 Mosquitoes. Again, an indirect route was employed, this time crossing the Dutch coast north of the Zuider Zee and then flying almost due south to Frankfurt. This, and the Kiel minelaying diversion, confused the Germans for some time; Hannover was forecast as the main target. Only a few fighters eventually found the bomber stream. 33 aircraft - 26 Lancasters, 7 Halifaxes - were lost, 4·0 per cent of the force.
,p>The marking and bombing were accurate and Frankfurt suffered another heavy blow; the city's records show that the damage was even more severe than in the raid carried out 4 nights earlier. Half of the city was without gas, water and electricity 'for a long period'. All parts of the city were hit but the greatest weight of the attack fell in the western districts. The report particularly mentions severe damage to the industrial areas along the main road to Mainz. The report also has long lists of historic buildings, churches and hospitals destroyed and statistics for the destruction of property. Mention is made of 5 important and 26 lesser Nazi Party buildings hit. 948 people were killed, 346 seriously injured and 120,000 bombed out.162 B-17s of the Eighth Air Force used Frankfurt as a secondary target when they could not reach Schweinfurt 36 hours after this R.A.F. raid and caused further damage. The Frankfurt diary has this entry:
The three air raids of 18th, 22nd and 24th March were carried out by a combined plan of the British and American air forces and their combined effect was to deal the worst and most fateful blow of the war to Frankfurt, a blow which simply ended the existence of the Frankfurt which had been built up since the Middle Ages.*
One result of these heavy raids was that recently captured R.A.F. men often had to be protected by their guards from the assaults of angry civilians when they passed through Frankfurt to reach the nearby Oberursel interrogation and transit camp.
source: The Bomber Command War Diaries, Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt
Halifax aircraft LW 584 missing during a night trip to Frankfurt, Germany. F/O. D.H. Bailey, P/O.s D.A.Laird, D.J. O'Brien, C. Bertoia, B.H. Murdock, and Sgt. L.W. Denning (RAF) were killed. One Canadian, FS. W.B. Studnik, was taken Prisoner Of War. There were two 432 Squadron aircraft lost in the same area on this date. Please see F/L. D.E. Cawker for information regarding the other aircraft and crew.
Crashed near Langenberg, Germany, after exploding in mid air. Part came down in Bardel furniture factory and near railway station. Lone survivor was pilot, who came down by parachute in nearby Benteler.
