6 Group Unavailable
307 aircraft - 187 Halifaxes, 106 Lancasters, 14 Mosquitoes - from 1, 6 and 8 Groups. German fighters again appeared, this time on the homeward flight, and 18 Halifaxes and 4 Lancasters were lost, 7.2 per cent of the force. The Halifax casualties were 9.6 per cent; 431 (Canadian) Squadron, flying from Croft airfield in Co. Durham, lost 5 of its 17 aircraft on the raid.
This was the first heavy raid on Hamburg since the Battle of Hamburg just a year earlier. The bombing on this raid was not well concentrated. The Germans estimated that only 120 aircraft bombed in the city area, with no recognizable aiming point, though western and harbour areas received the most bombs. A large proportion of the attack fell on areas devastated in 1943 but 265 people were killed and more than 17,000 had to be evacuated from homes damaged in this raid, many of which were probably only temporary wooden accommodation at this stage of the war. Brunswig (p. 339) describes how a panic developed at the large Reeperbahn air-raid shelter when a lone aircraft came in to bomb after the all clear had sounded and nearby Flak guns opened fire. 2 women were trampled to death and others were badly hurt.
source: The Bomber Command War Diaries, Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt
