Rostock
23 April 1942 — Rostock
- Date
- 23 April 1942
- Target
- Rostock, Germany
- Force dispatched
- 161 aircraft
- Aircraft lost
- 12
Narrative
Fresh from burning out Lübeck in March, Sir Arthur Harris turned to Rostock to demonstrate again the power of concentrated incendiary area bombing. On four successive nights from 23 to 26 April 1942 the old Baltic town was attacked — by 161, then 125, 128 and 106 aircraft — while small forces attempted a precision attack on the Heinkel aircraft works on its southern edge. The medieval centre, full of timber buildings, burned fiercely: by the end some 70 per cent of Rostock had been destroyed, in around 520 sorties, for the loss of only twelve aircraft. The Lübeck and Rostock raids together marked Bomber Command’s deliberate shift to the area bombing of German towns.
Sortie details (which aircraft from which squadron, which crew flew, the outcome) will populate this page once the TNA AIR 27 squadron-diary importer arrives.
The fallen
109 airmen in this archive died on 23 April 1942 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 John Arthur Ahern (20)
- Warrant Officer John Seton Aitken (21)
- Pilot Officer Neville Neil Allen (21)
- Pilot Officer Gordon Miles Bain (23)
- Flight Sergeant Alexander B. Balinson (24)
- Pilot Officer Charles Bertram Barber (22)
- Aircraftman 2nd Class Israel Perach Benjamin (34)
- Flight Lieutenant Roger Joseph Blanchard (26)
- Flight Sergeant Prokop Brazda (26)
- Sergeant Bernard Bricklebank (27)
- Aircraftman 2nd Class Arthur Guy Bryan-brown (19)
- Sergeant Maurice William Buckley
- Pilot Officer Oswald John Channon (24)
- Flight Sergeant Arthur Ernest Charron
- Sergeant Thomas William Chaston (21)
- Sergeant Derek Joseph Coates (20)
- Sergeant William James Cook (28)
- Flight Sergeant Clifford Cooper (22)
- Sergeant Joseph Coward (21)
- Corporal Arthur Dale (31)
- Sergeant Ronald Giles Daniel (22)
- Sergeant Phillip Bruce Dauncey (20)
- Sergeant Shirley Vincent Davidge (27)
- Flight Sergeant Ronald Victor George Dennis (23)
See all 109 who died on 23 April →
Source: WW2 Today — Rostock burns in second 'area bombing' →