6 Bomber Group July 25/26 1943
47 Halifaxes from 408, 419, 427, and 428 Squadrons were joined by 17 Wellingtons from 429 and 432 Squadrons on an attack at Essen. The crews were over the target at between 17,000 and 20,000 feet, releasing 202,000 lbs of incendiaries and 84,000 lbs of high explosives. According reports, bombing was concentrated and severe damage was caused to the Krupp complex. Richard Koval (6bombergroup.ca)
705 aircraft - 294 Lancasters, 221 Halifaxes, 104 Stirlings, 67 Wellingtons, 19 Mosquitoes. 26 aircraft - 10 Halifaxes, 7 Stirlings, 5 Lancasters, 4 Wellingtons - lost, 3·7 per cent of the force. The commander of the American VIII Bomber Command, Brigadier-General Fred Anderson, observed this raid as a passenger in an 83 Squad-ron Lancaster.
This was an attempt to achieve a good raid on this major target while the effects of Window were still fresh. The raid was successful, with particular damage being recorded In Essen's industrial areas in the eastern half of the city, The Krupp's works suffered what was probably Its most damaging raid of the war. The next morning, Doktor Gustav Krupp had a stroke from which he never recovered; this saved him from being charged with war crimes after the war.* 51 other industrial buildings were destroyed and 83 seriously damaged. 2,852 houses were destroyed. 500 people were killed, 12 were missing and 1,208 were injured. The 500 dead are recorded as follows: I 65 civilian men, l l 8 women, 22 children, 22 servicemen, l 3 l foreign workers and 42 prisoners of war.
source: The Bomber Command War Diaries, Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt
419 Moose Squadron (Moosa Aswayita) RAF Middleton St George. The crew of Halifax II aircraft JD 256 VR-A had just completed their bomb run over Essen, Germany and entered the cloud cover when they suffered catastrophic damage the tail of their aircraft and went into an unrecoverable inverted dive, crashing at Bergeborbeck, Essen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. It is unclear whether the damage was from heavy flak, collision with another aircraft or from bombs dropped from above. There was only one survivor from this crew, on their seventh operation
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