RAF activity 28/29th and 29th November 1944??

[thorthemighty]

Hello all,

Can anybody verify some information and clear up a slight descrepancy for me.

I have been given information from the 101 squadron orb which states that:

On the 29th November 1944 five lancasters to Neuss and eight to Essen...all taking off within the same time frame of 0250 to 0800, then between 1159 and 1220 hrs, 16 Lancasters are on their way to Dortmund.

On the RAF website it has the following information:

28/29 November 1944

Essen: 316 aircraft - 270 Halifaxes, 32 Lancasters, 14 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4 and 8 Groups. No aircraft lost.
Bomber Command documents claim further damage to industrial areas, including the Krupps works. An interesting little item in the local fire brigade report congratulates the team working in the burning headquarters of the local Gestapo for saving valuable documents.

145 Lancasters of No 3 Group and 8 Lancasters of No 1 Group carried out a mainly G-H attack on Neuss. No aircraft lost.

75 Mosquitos to Nuremberg and 9 to Hallendorf, 35 RCM sorties, 3 Mosquito patrols. 1 Mosquito lost from the Nuremberg raid.

Total effort for the night: 623 sorties, 1 aircraft (0.2 per cent) lost.

29 November 1944

Dortmund: 294 Lancasters and 17 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups. 6 Lancasters lost. Bad weather caused the marking and resultant bombing to be scattered but fresh damage was caused in Dortmund.

30 Mosquitos of No 8 Group attempted to bomb a tar and benzol plant in the Meiderich district of Duisburg, using the Oboe-leader method for the first time on a German target, but 2 of the 3 formations of Mosquitos failed to link up with their Oboe leaders and bombed on timed runs from the docks south of Duisburg. Most of the bombs were believed to have fallen beyond the target. No Mosquitos lost.

1 Hudson flew a Resistance operation.

29/30 November 1944

67 Mosquitos to Hannover and 4 to Bielefeld, 27 RCM sorties, 38 Mosquito patrols, 19 aircraft on Resistance operations. 6 Mosquitos of No 5 Group to lay mines in the River Weser were unable to carry out the operation because of 10/10ths cloud over the target area. No aircraft lost.


if I am correct...(based on the take-off times) the Neuss and Essen raids as recorded as occurring on the 29th in the 101 orb...are the same missions listed as having occurred on the 28/29th in the campaign diary as on the RAF website...with the dortmund raid then occurring on the 29th.

Can anybody tell me if this is correct...or am I mistaken?

cheers,

Thor