The bulk of the bomber force was twin-engined medium bombers such as the Vickers Wellington. The memorial is maintained by the RAF Benevolent Fund, the welfare charity supporting past and present RAF personnel. This Tuesday marks the 75th anniversary of the 1942 raid, codenamed Operation Millennium. He was an aircraft fitter stationed on a training base at RAF Defford in May 1942. The intention was that the bomber stream would pass through the minimum number of German radar night-fighter boxes in the minimum time, swamping the defences as the German controllers could only direct a maximum of six potential night-fighter interceptions per hour in each box. The tracks of a mass of concentrated searchlights and tracer bullets from anti-aircraft fire cover the larger area of the picture as the first bombs explode on the city (lower left). newspaper archive. As we approached we saw a mass of flames, then dropped the bombs from about 15,000 feet.

By sundown, it became obvious that every single serviceable Wellington on the airfield was to be flying that evening. While the crew were descending to safety they saw the aircraft, still carrying their gallant captain, plunge to earth and burst into flames. • 30–31 May 1942 : First thousand-bomber raid, 1,047 aircraft dispatched in "Operation Millennium" against Cologne. (artwork: Gary Eason flightartworks.com).

All of his crew parachuted to safety, only one of them was taken prisoner whilst the others evaded capture and made it back to Britain. This was the 105th time in the war that air raid sirens had indicated a bombing raid. We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Two more RAF 1,000-bomber raids followed that summer on Essen and Bremen. The Biggest Bombing Raid of World War II: 1000 Bombers Sent to Destroy Berlin. That same publicity confirmed Bomber Command's future as a major force.

The searchlights and flak followed him until the outskirts of the city were passed. I was convinced that a force of 250-300 aircraft was wholly inadequate to saturate the then existing defences of a major industrial town of half a million or more inhabitants. … also with some stories from 1945 (75 years ago) until September …. Looking up and checking facts, as I go. The citation for the Victoria Cross awarded to Flying Officer Leslie Thomas Manser 66542 Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (Deceased) No. Every effort was made to provide the crews under training with at least an experienced pilot, but 49 aircraft from the OTUs took part with pupil pilots flying them. Harris briefed Churchill that Bomber Command was now approaching the position where they could inflict serious damage on Germany – provided they threw everything at it. On the 30th May 1942, there was a buzz around the airfield at Defford. Two-thousand tons of bombs had been had been dropped that night. This aircraft was lacking a mid upper turret and was considered a ‘second line’ aircraft. The recent introduction of the radio navigation aid ‘Gee’ made it easier for the crews whose aircraft were equipped with it to navigate within the precise limits required for such flying. Flying Officer Manser held on his dangerous course and bombed the target successfully from a height of 7,000 feet. This force was more than two and a half times greater than any previous single night's effort by Bomber Command up to this point of the war.

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