British airraids on Mannheim, Germany

[DIRKIO]

Hello friends,

as my project on Fliegerhorst Sandhofen is closed, I have as a new book research project : The city of Mannheim, its bunkers, garrisons and the party 1933 - 1945.
This encludes airraids ect. So I started to research and found quite some matrial on raids first by the british , later the americans. Where I have trouble is finding out who and which squadron came to bomb us? I see that so and so may aircraft came but nothing else.
Where could I look into to find more details, mayby an old vetreran who was in the airplane those days??
Thanks for any help!
Dirk

[RossGmann]

Hi

If you type in the following (including the word site)
site:www.lostbombers.co.uk Mannheim it will give you a list of lost bombers with the word Mannheim somewhere in the text. Also site:forum.12oclockhigh.net Mannheim will give you enquiries re Mannheim on 12OCH website

Kind regards
Ross

[John Vasco]

I can advise you that Wellingtons of 9 Squadron carried out raids on Mannheim on 7th September 1940 and 9th December 1940 (source: Flight Log Book of L. F. Howells, Radio Operator/Air Gunner in 9 Sqdn).

[B.F.M. Droog]

Hello Dirk,

What can be of help is the online Bomber Command Campaign Diary for the Battle of France, May/June 1940.
And this site,
The Second World War - a day by day account

And my own little project - check the medium and heavy bomber squadrons on it, for May and June 1940.

Beware of Lost Bombers as a source: it contains many mistakes and you should go for the original material; mainly the books written by W.R. Chorley, Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, Volume 1 to 8.

Regards,

Bart

[Horst Weber]

Good afternoon DIRKIO !

Since I made the same researches for a specific region in Germany some years ago, I hope I can give you some advices (you may probably know them anyway).
Very good sources are:
- The Bomber Command War Diaries by Martin Middlebrook and C. Everitt
- The Mighty Eight War Diary by Roger A. Freeman
- Air War Europa Chronology by Eric Hammel
These books are day-by-day accounts of the RAF Bomber Command, 8th (U.S.) Air Force and the last book includes aditionnally the operations of the 15th AF and the "little" Air Forces like 9th AF and 12th AF in Western Europe and the Mediteranian.

The first books give a day by day account, including target, no. of operational a/c for the mission, the number of losses and the bomb-tonnage. Those books are very good primary sources, to start researches to a specific area.

The eight books "RAF Bomber COMMAND LOSSES" by Bill Chorley are a very good source, to exclude (or include) a/c crashes in the area of interest at days, when BC bombed Mannheim. Unfortunately, such a comlete work in book-form for the 8th AF as well as for the 9th and eventually for the 12th AF is not available (as my knowledge).

A very good aid are the "Kriegstagebuch Luftgaukomando VII", There are a number of issues existing of KTB VII, München, in BA-MA in Freiburg. The LGK VII covered the Mannheim area from 1937 up to September 1944. Then the responsibilities went over to LGK V, Stuttgart. Those sources, together with (eventually) still existing Luftgau-Nachrichtenregiment-KTB's for the area in question are extremely helpful.

Hope this helps !

Horst Weber