RAF Bomber Sorties During Big Week
Bomber Command directly contributed to the attacks on the aircraft industry in Schweinfurt. Some 734 bombers were dispatched on the night of 24/25 February, and 695 struck the target. Of the bombs dropped, 298 hit within three miles and 22 hit inside the target area. Little damage was done. On 25/26 February 1944, Bomber Command sent 600 bombers to the aircraft assembly plant at Ausberg. The attack was accurate and they destroyed some 60 percent of the industrial city.
| Date | Notes |
|---|---|
| 19/20 February 1944 | 921 sorties, 79 aircraft (8.6%) lost. The major raid, by 823 aircraft, was to Leipzig; (B-17s of the U.S. B-17s of the U.S. Eight bombed Leipzig-Mockau Airfield earlier the same day). 24 de Havilland Mosquitos bombed airfields in Holland and a further 7 made a diversionary raid on Munich. |
| 20/21 February | 826 sorties, 10 aircraft (1.2%) lost. The major raid, by 598 aircraft, was to Stuttgart; (50 B-17s of the U.S. Eight bombed Stuttgart industrial areas on Friday, 25 February). |
| 21/22 February | 17 Mosquitos to Duisburg, Stuttgart and 2 flying-bomb sites with other sorties. The total effort for the night was 69 sorties, with 1 aircraft (1.4%) lost. |
| 22/23 February | 10 Mosquitos to Stuttgart, 8 to Duisburg and 3 to Aachen with other sorties the total effort for the night was 134 sorties, no aircraft lost. |
| 23/24 February | 17 Mosquitos of 692 Squadron to Düsseldorf, with other sorties the total effort for the night 22 sorties, no aircraft lost. |
| 24/25 February | 1,070 sorties, 36 aircraft (3.4%) lost. The major raid, by 734 aircraft, was on Schweinfurt, home of Germany's main ball-bearing factories. American B-17s had bombed the factories the previous day. 15 Mosquitos bombed airfields in Holland, 8 Mosquitos bombed Kiel and 7 Aachen. |
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Famous quotes containing the words big and/or week:
“We may seem great in an employment below our worth, but we very often look little in one that is too big for us.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)
“Better see rightly on a pound a week than squint on a million.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)