6 Group Unavailable
811 aircraft - 577 Lancasters, 2 l 6 Halifaxes, l 8 Mosquitoes. 72 aircraft - 44 Lancasters, 28 Halifaxes - lost, 8·9 per cent of the force.
This night became known in Bomber Command as 'the night of the strong winds', A powerful wind from the north carried the bombers south at every stage of the flight. Not only was this wind not forecast accurately but it was so strong that the various methods available to warn crews of wind changes during the flight failed to detect the full strength of it. The bomber stream became very scattered, particularly m the homeward flight and radar-predicted Flak batteries at many places were able :o score successes. Part of the bomber force even strayed over the Ruhr defences on :he return flight. It is believed that approximately 50 of the 72 aircraft lost were destroyed by Flak; most of the remainder were victims of night fighters. The Berlin report says that 14 bombers were shot down by fighters in the target area.
The strong winds caused difficulties in the marking at Berlin with, unusually, markers being carried beyond the target and well out to the south-west of the city. 126 smnll towns and vlllages outside Berlin recorded bombs und 30 people were killed In those places, The majority of the damage in Berlin was in the south-western districts, As usual, much housing was destroyed and about 20,000 people were bombed out. Approximately 150 people were killed. No industrial concerns were classed as destroyed but several important ones were damaged. 5 military establishments were badly hit including the depot of the Waffen-S.S. Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler Division in Lichterfelde.
This was the last major R.A.F. raid on Berlin during the war, although the city would be bombed many times by small forces of Mosquitoes.source: The Bomber Command War Diaries, Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt
.97 Squadron (Achieve Your Aim), Pathfinder Force. Lancaster aircraft JB 671 missing during operations over enemy territory. Six RAF members of the crew, Flight Sergeant W. Chapman, Flight Sergeant S. Nuttall, Pilot Officer W.D. Coates, D.F.M., Sergeant B.H. Nicholas, Sergeant. W.L. York and Sergeant F. Thompson were also killed.
