The Raid
The raid coincided with a thousand-bomber raid on Duisburg, the second on that city within 48 hours.
According to plan, the aircraft of No. 5 Group took off around 2300 hours local time on 14 October. The main force of the group was 233 four-engined heavy bombers – Avro Lancasters Mark I and III – each with a bomb load of about six tonnes. The Lancasters were accompanied by seven de Havilland Mosquito fast light bombers. The bombers bound for Braunschweig took a course that ran to the south to avoid the Ruhr area, which was heavily defended by anti-aircraft batteries and aircraft. Near Paderborn it turned towards the north, overflew Hanover, and went on to Braunschweig.
As was usual, the British activities for the night included a number of sorties to deceive the German defences about the true targets for the night. One hundred and forty-one training craft flew simulated attacks on Heligoland, 20 Mosquitos went to Hamburg, eight to Mannheim, 16 to Berlin and two to Düsseldorf. Moreover, 140 aircraft of 100 Group RAF were deployed in measures against German nightfighter defences. Strips of tinfoil (codenamed "Window") were scattered into the air in great amounts to jam the German air defence system's radar stations, thereby rendering them very nearly useless on this night.
The siren signal alerting the city to an air raid was sounded at about 0150 on 15 October.
Read more about this topic: Bombing Of Braunschweig In World War II
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