615 Squadron - 18 July 1940

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Originally Posted by ajcrou

"Mais l’imprécision des tirs provoque des dégâts matériels collatéraux: ainsi le 18 juillet 1940, les bombardements rendent la gare maritime définitivement inutilisable et détruisent 3000 m² de hangars sur le port. Et surtout, ils font de nombreuses victimes civiles."

Strange text: the full version says that the main goal of Allied bombings was to make the Germans believe the Allied will land in Pas-de-Calais and to destroy V-weapons sites. True in 1943 and 1944, but not in 1940, where the port was the main target. And so the French text seems to say that the damage on the port on 18 July 1940 were due to bad aiming, while the port was the true target.
The last phrase about the civilian casualties is not for this precise date but for the whole period, listing specific cases then from February 1941 to September 1940, but not the 3 dead and 15 wounded suffered on 18 July 1940.

PS: by the way, I love your AOI website.