Düsseldorf
3 November 1943 — Düsseldorf
- Date
- 3 November 1943
- Target
- Düsseldorf, Germany
Narrative
On the night of 3/4 November 1943 a force of almost 600 aircraft attacked Düsseldorf. Flight Lieutenant William ‘Bill’ Reid of No. 61 Squadron was still outbound when his Lancaster was hit by a night-fighter that shattered the windscreen and wounded him; a second attack killed his navigator, fatally wounded the wireless operator and wounded him again. Rather than turn back through the following bomber stream, Reid pressed on to bomb the target and then flew the battered Lancaster home, crash-landing it in England. He survived, and was awarded the Victoria Cross.
Order of battle
1 aircraft. Each crew links to the men who flew it; each airman to their own record.
| Aircraft | Type | Squadron | Pilot | Crew | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LM360 QR-O |
Avro Lancaster | Crashed on return |
The fallen
202 airmen in this archive died on 3 November 1943 or the day that followed. For a raid of this kind these are overwhelmingly the night's losses, though a death-date match is not by itself proof an individual flew this operation.
- Sergeant Graham Wilson Allen (20)
- Sergeant John McIntosh Anderson (19)
- Pilot Officer Jacques Barthelemy (19)
- Sergeant Eric William Hardy Bates (20)
- Sergeant Gerald Percy Baylis
- Sergeant Stanley Beedle (23)
- Flight Sergeant Malcolm Owen Morley Bell (22)
- Leading Aircraftman James Benn (22)
- Flying Officer Arthur John Newton Berry (22)
- Flight Sergeant John Gladstone Blackwood
- Flying Officer Charles Ward Blagborne (32)
- Lieutenant Frans Booyse (26)
- Sergeant George Edwin Boucher (23)
- Flying Officer Alastair Allan Stewart Bowman (20)
- Sergeant George Ernest Boxer
- Pilot Officer Roy Arthur Brawn (25)
- Air Sergeant Breedt
- Flight Sergeant Henry Brennand
- Lieutenant Colonel Johannes Frederick Britz (27)
- Sergeant Ronald Lewis Brunton
- Flight Sergeant George James Byers (23)
- Pilot Officer Robert Cameron (22)
- Flight Lieutenant Norman Henry Carfoot (21)
- Aircraftman 2nd Class Norman Nixon Carr (19)
See all 202 who died on 3 November →
Source: Wikipedia — William Reid (VC) →