6 Group Unavailable
327 aircraft- 197 Lancasters and 130 Halifaxes. 18 Lancasters and 18 Halifaxes lost, 11 per cent of the force. The Canadian 408 Squadron lost 4 of its 12 Halifaxes idispatched.
This raid, on the Skoda armaments factory, took place by the light of a full moon but was not a success, In a complicated plan, the Main Force was ordered to confirm the position of' the Skoda factory visually; the Pathfinder markers were only intended as a general gulde,As it turned out a large asylum building 7 miles away was mistaken for the factory and only 6 crews brought back bombing photographs which were within 3 miles of the real target. The Skoda factory was not hit. One report says that 200 German soldiers were killed when their barracks near the asylum were bombed.
The Bomber Command War Diaries, by Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt
408 Goose Squadron (For Freedom). Halifax aircraft BB 343 EQ-X was lost during operations against the Skoda Armaments Facilities in Plzen, Czechoslovakia. On the way home while still over France, the Halifax was shot down by night fighter pilot Oberfeldwebel Adolph Branstetter of 3/NJG4, crashing near the municipality of Lesquielles-Saint-Germain, Aisne, Hauts-de-France with the loss of the entire crew
Warrant Officer 1st Class Joseph Jacques Alfred Guay (RCAF), Sergeant Harold Walter Fill (RCAF), Flight Sergeant Francois Rolland Pilon (RCAF), Flight Sergeant Lloyd George Haines (RCAF), Flight Sergeant Irving MacDonald (RCAF), Sergeant Anthony Patrick Gielty (RAFVR), and Sergeant Ronald Harry Winter (RAFVR) were all killed in action
There were four 408 Squadron Halifax Mk II aircraft lost on this date. Please see aircraft serial numbers DT 752 EQ-W, JB 854 EQ-D and JB 925 EQ-R for information regarding the other crews and aircraft.
Nachtjagd Combat Archives 1943 Part 1, 1 January - 22 June by Theo Boiten page 74
Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database
Search for France-Crashes 39-45
