6 Bomber Group August 9/10, 1943
39 Halifaxes from 419, 427 and 428 Squadrons were order to attack Mannheim. The crews were over the target at between 17,000 and 20,000 feet, releasing 129,000 lbs of incendiaries and 66,000 lbs of high explosives. According to reports, the target was cloud covered and the attack was scattered. Richard Koval (6bombergroup.ca)
457 aircraft - 286 Lancasters and 171 Halifaxes. 9 aircraft - 6 Halifaxes and 3 Lancasters - lost, 2·0 per cent of the force.
The target area was mainly cloud-covered and the Pathfinder plan did not work well. The resulting bombing appeared to be scattered. Mannheim, whose wartime officials must have produced some of the best air-raid reports in Germany, sent 37 typed pages of details which showed that this raid caused considerable damage in and around the city. 1,316 buildings were classed as 'totally destroyed' or 'seriously damaged'. 42 industrial concerns, some of them being quite large ones, suffered loss of production. The compensation claims for 9 of the factories totaled 43,815,000 Reichsmarks (£4,381,500). 269 people were killed and 1,210 were injured. There were 1,528 fires: 133 large, 417 medium-sized and 978 small fires. 8 railway engines, 146 passenger carriages and 40 goods wagons were damaged. 144 farm animals were killed: 96 pigs, 18 goats, 15 cows, 12 horses, 2 oxen and a calf.
It is a measure of the increased striking power of Bomber Command that all of the damage and casualties quoted above was caused by a medium-sized raid which is described in the Bomber Command Operations Record Book as 'a scattered attack'.
source: The Bomber Command War Diaries, Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt
Bomber Command Museum Monthly ORB
