Attacks on the Dortmund-Ems-Canal

[robert_schulte]

Hi all,
some of you may know, the Dortmund-Ems-Canal in the areas of Ladbergen and Gravenhorst was the most attacked target during whole WW 2, in regard to bomb density.
Is there any literature, that deals with these attacks in some depth? My father was on duty there as a youthful anti aircraft assistant and I'd like to learn more about this.
Or is there anybody around, who knows something about those Flak units?
Best wishes
Robert

[B.F.M. Droog]

You may find a bit in the online Bomber Command Diary, August 1940. An earlier attack was made on 02/07/1940 by 82 Squadron RAF.

You might find some more in 'Despatch on war operations' (23/02/1942-08/05/1945) by Sir Arthur T. 'Bomber' Harris.

[FrankieS]

28 September 1942 6 Wellingtons to Lingen, on the Dortmund-Ems Canal. Only 1 aircraft bombed ships, but
missed. 1 Wellington lost.

22 October 1942 22 Wellingtons on cloud-cover raids to Essen, the Ruhr and the Dortmund-Ems Canal at
Lingen. 13 aircraft bombed estimated positions through cloud. One of the Wellington's came down low and machine-gunned a train near Lingen, setting some of the carriages alight. No
aircraft were lost.

14/15 September 1943 8 Lancasters of 617 Squadron set out with the new 12,000lb bomb (not the 12,000lb Tallboy
'earthquake' bomb developed later) to attack the banks of the Dortmund-Ems Canal near
Ladbergen. While the force was over the North Sea, however, a weather reconnaissance
Mosquito reported that there was fog in the target area and the Lancasters were recalled.

15/16 September 1943 8 Lancasters of 617 Squadron took off to carry out the postponed raid on the Dortmund-Ems
Canal but the area was misty and 5 aircraft were lost, including those of Pilot Officer LG
Knight, another of the Dams Raid survivors, and the new squadron commander, Squadron
Leader G Holden. These heavy losses, and the losses of the Dams Raid, confirmed that
low-level attacks on German targets, even when away from major defended areas, were not
viable with heavy bombers and this type of operation was not repeated

9/10 August 1944 16 Mosquitos minelaying in
the Dortmund-Ems Canal.

23/24 September 1944 136 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitos of No 5 Group to bomb the banks of the 2 parallel branches
of the Dortmund-Ems canal at a point near Ladbergen, north of Münster, where the level of the
canal water was well above the level of the surrounding land. Despite the presence of 7/10ths
cloud in the target area, breaches were made in the banks of both branches of the canal and a
6-mile stretch of it was drained. Most of this damage was caused by 2 direct hits by 12,000lb
Tallboy bombs dropped by aircraft of No 617 Squadron at the opening of the raid. 14
Lancasters - more than 10 per cent of the Lancaster force - were lost.

4/5 November 1944 Dortmund-Ems Canal: 174 Lancasters and 2 Mosquitos of No 5 Group. 3 Lancasters lost. The
Germans had partly repaired the section of the canal north of Münster after the No 5 Group
raid in September, so this further attack was required. The banks of both branches of the
canal were again breached and water drained off, leaving barges stranded and the canal
unusable. A report from Speer to Hitler, dated 11 November 1944, was captured at the end of
the war and described how the bombing of the canal was preventing smelting coke from the
Ruhr mines reaching 3 important steelworks - 2 near Brunswick and 1 at Osnabrück. In his
post-war interrogation, Speer stated that these raids on the Dortmund-Ems Canal, together
with attacks on the German railway system, produced more serious setbacks to the German
war industry at this time than any other type of bombing.

6/7 November 1944 235 Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attempted to cut the Mittelland Canal at its
junction with the Dortmund-Ems Canal at Gravenhorst. The marking force experienced great
difficulty in finding the target. The crew of a low-flying Mosquito - pilot: Flight Lieutenant LCE
De Vigne; navigator: Australian Squadron Leader FW Boyle, No 627 Squadron - found the
canal and dropped their marker with such accuracy that it fell into the water and was
extinguished. Only 31 aircraft bombed, before the Master Bomber ordered the raid to be
abandoned. 10 Lancasters were lost.


21/22 November 1944 This was a night of mainly good visibility in which Bomber Command operations were
directed strictly according to priorities given in recent directives. Dortmund-Ems Canal: 123 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitos of No 5 Group. No aircraft lost. The
canal near Ladbergen was attacked, some of the Lancasters coming down to 4,000ft to get
beneath the cloud. A breach was made in the only branch of the aqueduct here which had
been repaired since the last raid and the water once again drained out of the canal.

7/8 February 1945 177 Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked the Dortmund-Ems Canal section
near Ladbergen with delayed-action bombs. Later photographs showed that the banks had
not been damaged; the bombs had fallen into nearby fields. 3 Lancasters were lost.

3/4 March 1945 212 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked the Ladbergen aqueduct on the
Dortmund-Ems Canal, breached it in 2 places and put it completely out of action. 7 Lancasters
lost.

[galgos]

Hi Robert,
I've been researching the final raid on the DEK carried out on 3 March 1945 for nearly 3 years so your post is especially interesting to me. This site: http://www.bomberhistory.co.uk/Canal...EKHistory.html
is a good starting point, it gives some detail about flak positions though I'd be interested to know if there were more.
My personal interest is one of the Lancasters lost that night, ME453 of 467 squadron which was allegedly shot down by flak, though my investigations point more towards Heinz Schnaufer shooting the plane down. I have written to Ladbergen to ask if anyone has any further information about flak positions, and posted similar questions to yours on other forums, but without success. I have quite a lot of data about this raid from a Bomber Command point of view which I'm more than happy to share with you if you'd care to e-mail me off board. Take a quick look at my website www.galgos.co.uk for a summary of my work.
Regards
Max Williams

[robert_schulte]

Hi guys,
many thanks for your answers so far, these are very informative and helpful.
Since the book "Despatch on War Operations" isn't really cheap, is there any other literature about these attacks?
Thanks again
Robert

P.S.: Max, you have got a PM.

[B.F.M. Droog]

There's much to be found online; try this Google-link

[B.F.M. Droog]

Or on Google Books: "Dortmund Ems Canal" RAF

[BigWeeker]

Resurrecting this thread on behalf of a friend.
Can anyone confirm if ND868 (Flt Lt S H Jones) from 106 Sqn was lost on the 23/24 September ‘44 as a result of a collision with a 463 Sqn Lancaster, or that he was shot down by a night fighter.
Tia
Andy Bigweeker