6 Bomber Group June 11/12, 1943
51 Halifaxes from 408, 419, and 427 Squadrons were joined by 63 Wellingtons from 426, 428, 429, 431, and 432 Squadrons on an attack at Dusseldorf. The crews were over the target at between 12,000 and 15,000 feet, releasing 145,000 lbs of high explosives and 275,000 lbs of incendiaries. According to reports, severe damage was caused to this target. Richard Koval (6bombergroup.ca)
783 aircraft - 326 Lancasters, 202 Halifaxes, 143 Wellingtons, 99 Stirlings, 13 Mosquitoes. This was the first night that more than 200 Halifaxes took part in a raid. 38 aircraft- 14 Lancasters, 12 Halifaxes, 10 Wellingtons, 2 Stirlings - lost, 4·9 per cent of the force.
The Pathfinder marking plan proceeded excellently until an Oboe Mosquito inadvertently released a load of target indicators 14 miles north-east of Dusseldorf. This caused part of the Main Force to waste its bombs on open country. But the main bombing caused extensive damage in the centre of Dusseldorf, where 130 acres were claimed as destroyed, and this proved to be the most damaging raid of the war for this city.
Dusseldorf reports that the fire area measured 8· km by 5 km, covering the city centre - both the old and new parts, the Derendorf district and the south of the city. No less than 8,882 separate fire incidents were recorded of which 11,144 were classified as large. 1,292 people were killed. 140,000 people were bombed out of their homes The list of destroyed and seriously damaged industrial and public buildings coven typed pages in the Dusseldorf report! 42 industries connected with the war effort suffered complete stoppages of production and 35 more suffered a partial reduction. 20 military establishments were hit. 8 ships were sunk or damaged. The Gau (province) local government headquarters was destroyed.
source: The Bomber Command War Diaries, Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt
Wellington BX aircraft HF 543 SE-P, after completing an operation against targets in Dusseldorf, Germany, returned to the UK landing at RAF Oulton with battle damage. While on a taxiway, The Wellington collided with 427 Squadron Halifax DK 192 ZL-V, which had also landed at RAF Oulton with battle damage. The crew of Wellington HF 543 all survived unhurt but the aircraft was a write-off. There were some slight injuries to the crew of Halifax DK 192, which was repaired and sent to to 1663 Heavy Conversion Unit
Sergeant NH Apperley (RAFVR), Flying Officer WE Coleman (RAFVR), Flying Officer AM Penman (RAFVR), Sergeant VG Trew (RAFVR) and Sergeant GA Lilley (RAFVR) all survived without injury
Most of this crew, with the exception of Flying Officer Coleman, would be killed in action 1943-07-04 on 431 Squadron Wellington LN 284 SE-Q on an operation to Cologne, Germany
There were three 431 Wellington aircraft lost on this operation. Please see aircraft serials HE 184 SE-M and HE 392 SE-L for additional information
Wellington X HF543 [Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database]...
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