6 Group Unavailable
Lancaster Mk.l R5739 Took off from Mildenhall at 00:06 in Lancaster Mk I (Sqn code LS-K Bomber Command) on an operation to Leipzig Germany. Home-bound, the aircraft was damaged by a night fighter and crashed.near Jena in east-central Germany,approximately 20 km (12 mi) east of Weimar and about 40 km (25 mi) east of Erfurt, the state capital of Thuringia
823 aircraft- 561 Lancasters, 255 Halifaxes, 7 Mosquitoes. 78 aircraft= 44 Lancasters and 34 Halifaxes - lost, 9·5 per cent of the force. The Halifax loss rate was 13·3 per cent of those dispatched and 14·9 per cent of those Halifaxes which reached the enemy coast after 'early returns' had turned back. The Halifax Ils and Vs were permanently withdrawn from operations to Germany after this raid.
This was an unhappy raid for Bomber Command. The German controllers only sent part of their force of fighters to the Kiel minelaying diversion. When the main bomber force crossed the Dutch coast, they were met by a further part of the German fighter force and those German fighters which had been sent north to Kiel hurriedly returned. The bomber stream was thus under attack all the way to the target. There were further difficulties at the target because winds were not as forecast and many aircraft reached the Leipzig area too early and had to orbit and await the Pathfinders. 4 aircraft were lost by collision and approximately 20 were shot down by Flak.
Leipzig was cloud-covered and the Pathfinders had to use sky-marking. The raid appeared to be concentrated in its early stages but scattered later. There are few details of the effects of the bombing. No report is available from Germany and there was no immediate post-raid reconnaissance flight. When photographs were eventually taken, they included the results of an American raid which took place on the following day.The Bomber Command War Diaries, Martin Middlebrrok and Chris Everitt
