6 Bomber Group October 9/10, 1944
179 Halifaxes from 408, 415, 420, 424, 425, 426,427, 429, 431, 432, 433, and 434 squadrons were joined by 30 Lancasters from 419 and 428 squadrons, on an attack at Bochum. The crews were over the target between 17,000 and 20,000 feet, releasing 928,000 lbs of high explosives and 544,000 lbs of incendiaries. The target was cloud covered and according to reports the attack was scattered. Richard Koval (6bombergroup.ca)
435 aircraft- 375 Halifaxes, 40 Lancasters, 20 Mosquitoes - of I, 4, 6 and 8 Groups, 4 Halifaxes and I Lancaster lost.
This raid was not successful. The target area was covered by cloud and the bombing was scattered. The local report says that there was some damage in the southern districts of Bochum, with 140 houses destroyed or seriously damaged and approximately 150 people killed.
source: The Bomber Command War Diaries, Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt
Halifax B VII NP 801 QO-N, during a raid to Bochum, Germany was struck by falling bombs from an aircraft flying above it over the target and abandoned. The entire crew survived
Flying Officer RC Diamond (RCAF), Flying Officer W Nicholson (RCAF), Flying Officer WA Stohlberg (RCAF), Warrant Officer Class 2 AG Sharpe (RCAF), Warrant Officer Class 2 HJ Graham (RCAF), FS WA Harrington (RCAF) and Sergeant KW Hutchinson (RAF) all survived and were taken as Prisoners of War
Detail from books: Footprints on the Sands of Time, RAF Bomber Command Prisoners of War in Germany 1939-45 and The Long Road, Trials and Tribulations of Airmen Prisoners from Stalag Luft VII (Bankau) to Berlin, June 1944-May 1945. Both books by Oliver Clutton-Brock and Grub Street Press
