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T H I S D O C U M E N T IS T H E PROPERTY OF H I S B R I T A N N I C M A J E S T Y ' S G O V E R N M E N T

Printed for the War Cabinet. August 1944.

SECRET. Copy No.

W . P . (44) 478. / 2Qth August, 1944. - V

W A R CABINET.

SUMMARY OF O P E R A T I O N S OF BOMBER COMMAND FOR F O U R W E E K S E N D I N G 13TH A U G U S T , 1944.

MEMORANDUM BY THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR A I R .

A.—A detailed summary of operations is appended. B.—Results of Operations. 1. Oil Plants.

A large number of attacks were made during the period on oil plants in Germany and German-occupied territory. Outstanding successes were achieved in the daylight attack on the 4th August on Pauillac I (see Pr in t No. 1) and Bee cFAmbes (see P r in t No. 2). The plant at Homberg (Meerbeck) was severely damaged on the 20th/'21st July (see P r in t No. 3) and P r i n t No. 4 shows the extensive damage throughout the plant at Wesseling. At Dugny (Paris) three out of the four storage tanks were completely destroyed (see P r in t No. 5). Among other plants damaged were Scholven, Brier, Bottrop Welheim, where severe damage was caused to the north half of the target, Pauillac I I , where all the five main buildings were completely destroyed, Donges (see P r i n t No. 6) and Bordeaux Bassans wrhere smoke was still r ising from the target 24 hours after the attack. I n addition well concentrated attacks were made on four storage depots situated in the forests of Chatellerault (see P r i n t No. 7), Chantilly, Lucheux and Mormal.

2. Railway Centres. Successful attacks were made on railway centres in France. Vaires,

attacked on the 18th July, suffered severe damage and all lines w e r e blocked ( s e e P r i n t No. 8), the trans-shipment shed and much rolling-stock were destroyed a t Courtrai on the 20th/21st July (see P r in t No. 9). In the railway yards at L a Roche, about one-third of the locomotive depot was destroyed and tracks A v e r e severed in several places (see P r in t No. 10). The attack on Culmont-Chalindrey A v a s very successful (see P r i n t No. 11) and at NeA rers, as P r i n t No. 12 SIIOAVS, many of the tracks A v e r e obliterated and severe damage caused throughout the yard.

3. Shijyping and submarine pens. Considerable damage A v a s caused to dockside buildings at Le Havre by two

attacks on the 31st July and the 2nd August. The U-boat pens at Brest were attacked on the 5th and the 12th August with 12,000-lb. bombs, six of A v h i c h penetrated the roof, one making an opening nearly 50 feet across. Other near misses must have clone considerable damage to the foundations. A direct h i t on the S.E. corner of the U-boat pens at La Pallice caused an area of about 240 feet by 120 feet of the roof to break away (see P r i n t No. 13). Hi ts were also obtained on the U-boat pens at Lorient.

4. Enemy 'positions and other military targets in France. On the 18th July before the major assault by divisions of 21 Army Group,

3 groups of targets were very successfully attacked to the east and south-east of Caen (see Pr in t s Nos. 14 and 15). Three aiming points in the enemy's positions to the south-east of Caumont A v e r e selected for attack by Bomber Command on the 30th July before an assault by Army units. A good concentration Avas

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achieved and photographs show large numbers of craters round the aiming points. On the night of the 7 th /8 th August a heavy force of bombers attacked five areas north of Bretteville with the object of destroying the main enemy defensive localities and tank harbours in order to facilitate a. break through by the First Canadian Army along the Caen/Falaise road. The attacks were carried out accurately and according to plan. P r i n t No. 16 shows the destruction of a par t of the Signals Depot at St. Cyr.

5. Large sites and -flying-bomb sites in France. Pr in t No. 17 shows the results of a successful attack made on the large site

at Wizernes on the 21st July. An excellent concentration was achieved on the flying-bomb supply depot at Nucourt in two attacks on the 15th and 15th / 16th July (see P r in t No. 18) and the roof of the chamber beneath the plateau collapsed in several places burying considerable quantities of flying bombs. Other supply depots successfully attacked include Trossy, the Bois de Cassan and St. Leu cLEsserent, where further areas of subsidence were caused around the southern entrance to the caves and roads blocked at both the north and south entrances. Areas in the Foret de Nieppe wrere attacked several times and many storage units were destroyed or seriously damaged. Attacks were also made on a large number of flying-bomb launching sites, among them St. Phil ibert Ferme (see P r in t No. 19).

6. German towns. Three heavy attacks were made on Stut tgar t and extensive damage was

caused (see P r i n t No. 20), Kiel, Hamburg and Berlin were also attacked.

C.—Sea Mining. Minelaying during the later par t of the period was planned to interfere writh

the evacuation of enenry U-boats from the ports threatened by the Americans.. Brest, Lorient and St. Nazaire, to bases further south, La Pailice and Bordeaux. A large number of mines w7ere laid in the approaches to these five ports. Mines were laid by Mosquitoes in the Dortmund-Ems Canal on the night of the 9th/10th August and the Holtenau entrance to the Kiel Canal was mined by Lancasters on the 23rcl/24th July.

A. H. M. S. Air Ministry,

26th August, 1944.

A P P E N D I X .

Summary of Operations. A ircraft

Date. Target. Despatched.July 16 I .F.B. launching site ... ... ... ... 35

16/17 Homberg (Meerbeck), oil plant 38 17 Wizernes, large site ... ... ... ... 18

2 F.B. launching sites ... ... ... ... 114 17/18 Berlin 31 18 - Enemy positions to E. and S.E. of Caen ... ... 1,056

Vaires, railway centre ... ... ... ... 110 18/19 Wesseling, oil plant 194

Buer Scholven, oil plant ... ... ... ... 170 Aulnoye, railway7 centre ... ... ... ... 148 Revignv-sur-Ornain, railway centre ... ... 115 1 F.B. launching site ... ... ... 62 Berlin 22 Cologne ... ... ... ... ... ..." 6

19 2 F.B. launching sites 35 Thiverny, F.B. supply depot ... ... ... I l l

19/20 Bremen' 36 20 7 F.B. launching sites 316

Wizernes, large site ... ... ... ... 109

Date. July 20/21

21/22

22

23

23/24

24

24/25

25

25/26

26/27

27

27/28

28

28/29

29

29/30

30

31

July 31/Aug. 1

Aug. 11

2

3

4

Target. Courtrai , railway centre Bottrop, oil plant Homberg (Meerbeck), oil plant Alost ... Berlin 5 F.B. launching sites 2 F.B. launching sites Kiel Berlin Donges, oil plant Duren. steel works ... 2 F.B. launching sites 2 F.B. launching sites S tu t tgar t Berlin Frankfur t Aachen Donges, oil plant 2 F.B. launching sites St. Cyr. signals equipment depot . 2 F.B. launching sites Watten, large site S tu t tgar t Berlin Mannheim Wanne Eikel, oil plant Somain, railway centre 3 F.B. launching sites Givors, railway centre Somain, railway centre HamburgSaarbrueken 4 F.B. launching sites S tu t tgar t Foret de Nieppe, F.B. supply depot 2 F.B. launching sites S tu t tgar t I-1 . i m L

- L J . a i l l U L l . - l "\Ti " t ? — A f Ap, 4. si c U VJV.y.Frankfur ti: W I LvU ...V I L ... Foret de Nieppe, F.B. supply depot Frankfur t St. Trond/Brustheim, airfield Coulommiers, airfield Villers Bocage, Caumont, Jurques, troop concen

trations ... La Roche, railway centre Rilly la Montagne. F.B. supply depot Le Havre, shipping ... , ... Foret de Nieppe, F.B. supply depot 3 F.B. launching sites F.B. launching sites ... Trossy and Bois de Cassan, F.B. supply depot 7 F.B. launching sites Le Havre, shipping ... Foret de Nieppe, F.B. supply depot Bois de Cassan, F.B. supply depot Trossy, F.B. supply depot ... Foret de Nieppe, F.B. supply depot Foret de Nieppe, F.B. supply depot Etaples, railway bridge Bois de Cassan, F.B. supply depot Trossy, F.B. supply depot ... Pauil lac I, oil plant . . . Bee d'Ambes, oil plant

Aircraft Despatched.

320

166

157

11

33

60

60

629

27

119

5

116

36

614

27

8

5

113

114

100

75

18

550

21

15

135

6

114

187

11

30

2

72

30

179

20

496

119

^13

76

30

9

4

693

121

103

57

105

97

777

207

116

59

71

410

384

320

3

30

225

66

181

107

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Bate. Aug. 5

5/6 6

6/7

7 /8

8

9

9/10

10

10/11

11

11/12

12

12/13

Target. Foret de Nieppe, F.B. supply depot St. Leu d'Esserent, F.B. supply depot F.B. launching sites ... Brest, submarine pens Etaples, railway bridge Blaye, oil plant Pauillac I I , oil plant Bordeaux, oil plant ... Wanne Eikel, oil plant Foret de Nieppe, F.B. supply depot Bois de Cassan. F.B. supply depot Hazebrouck, railway centre ... Lorient, submarine pens Castrop-Rauxel, oil plant ... Cologne Foret de Nieppe, F.B. supply depot Normandy, troop concentrations ... Coulommiers, airfield Foret de Lucheux, oil storage depot Aire stir la Lys, oil storage depot Cologne Foret de Monmal, oil storage depot 7 F.B. launching sites ... ... --. La Pallice, submarine pens and oil storageForet de Chatellerault, oil storage depot Foret d'Englos, oil storage depot Foret de Nieppe, F.B. supply depot 3 F.B. launching sites Dugny, oil storage depot 2 F.B. launching sites 2 targets in France ... Dijon, railway centre La Pallice. oil storage Bordeaux, oil storage Berlin Bremen Bordeaux, submarine pens ... La Pallice, submarine pens Douai, railway centre Lens, railway centre Somain, railway centre 4 F.B. launching "sites Etaples, railway bridge Givors, railway bridge Berlin Trossy, F.B. supply depot ... Brest, submarine pens La Pallice, submarine pens ... Bordeaux, submarine pens ... Foret de Montrichard, ammunition dump Brunswick ... ... ... Russelsheim Falaise, road junction 2 F.B. launching sites Kiel :. Frankfur t Juvincourt, airfield ... Coulommiers, airfield Trossy, F.B. supply depot ...

Aircraft Despatched.

286

456

36

18

14

96

96

114

36

118

105

62

31

40

7

4

1.019

4

124

56

34

160

172

tanl 31

190

124

126

82

103

40

40

124

159

67

32

3

41

15

135

135

142

60

49

189

33

2

12

24

34

117

379

297

144

50

21

10

3

3

2

The p h o t o " T r p h on the l e f t taken "before the a t tack , and en the r i g h t taken on 21s t July.1944 a f t e r another attack with 12,OCOlb."ccribs. These o b l i q u e s she.: c l e a r l y ( A ) a l a r g e subsidence underneath t h e concrete r ir . o f the done and the crane h a s d i sappeared. (B ) a concre te c e n s t r u c t i o n s l i p p i n g dorm the quarry f a c e .

RESERVED

CROWN GOPYRjGH i A/N COPY RIG HI RES cRV fcU RESERVED

RESERVED

RES? RVED RESERVED