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648 aircraft- 42 I Lancasters, 224 Halifaxes, 3 Mosquitoes - on the first major raid to this target. The German controller again followed the progress of the bomber stream across the North Sea and many night fighters were in the stream before it crossed the German coast. The controller was very slow to identify Magdeburg as the target but this did not matter too much because most of the night fighters were able to stay in the bomber stream, a good example of the way the Tame Boar tactics were developing. 57 aircraft - 35 Halifaxes, 22 Lancasters - were lost, 8·8 per cent of the force; it is probable that three quarters of the losses were caused by German night fighters. The Halifax loss rate was 15·6 per cent!
The heavy bomber casualties were not rewarded with a successful attack. Some of the Main Force aircraft now had H2S and winds which were stronger than forecast brought some of these into the target area before the Pathfinders' Zero Hour. The crews of 27 Main Force aircraft were anxious to bomb and did so before Zero Hour. The Pathfinders blamed the fires started by this early bombing, together with some very effective German decoy markers, for their failure to concentrate the marking. No details are available from Magdeburg but it is believed that most of the bombing fell outside the city. An R.A.F. man who was in hospital at Magdeburg at the time reports only, 'bangs far away'.
source: The Bomber Command War Diaries, Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt
Lancaster BII aircraft LL 724 QO-N was shot down one and one half miles south-east of the aerodrome at Wesendorf, Germany whilst carrying out night operations against the synthetic oil plants at Magdeburg, Germany, shot down by night fighter pilot Oberleutnant Wolfgang Knieling of the 4/NJG 5, who was flying a Bf 110 G-4. The Lancaster crashed near Wagenhoff, Niedersachsen, Germany with the loss of the entire crew
Flying Officer LF Legace (RCAF), Flying Officer JB Mahoney (RCAF), Flying Officer DR Hunter (RCAF),Warrant Officer DA McDonald, Pilot Officer WJ Douglas (RCAF)(USA), FS WA Peterson (RCAF), and Sergeant WG Atkins (RAFVR) were all killed in action
There were two 432 Squadron Lancaster II aircraft lost on this operation. Please see Pocock, DL for information on Lancaster DS 843 QO-O
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