Frankfurt
22 March 1944 — Frankfurt
- Date
- 22 March 1944
- Target
- Frankfurt, Germany
- Force dispatched
- 816 aircraft
- Aircraft lost
- 33
Narrative
The raid on Frankfurt am Main on the night of 22/23 March 1944 was the most destructive of the war on that city. A force of 816 aircraft, the great majority Lancasters, attacked through good marking and devastated the old medieval centre along the Main, which was largely burned out. Thirty-three aircraft were lost to the night-fighter defences. It was one of the last big attacks of the winter offensive before Bomber Command turned to preparing the way for the invasion of France.
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
276 airmen in this archive died on 22 March 1944 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.
- Flight Sergeant Kenneth Anderson (20)
- Sergeant William Arthur Roland Andrew (20)
- Flying Officer William Douglas Armour (21)
- Sergeant Ashley John Armstrong
- Sergeant Phil Atha (22)
- Sergeant Charles Henry Bagot
- Flying Officer Dennis Harold Bailey
- Flight Lieutenant Bernard James Balchin (27)
- Pilot Officer James Barclay
- Flying Officer Douglas Reginald Barham (23)
- Flight Sergeant Robert Lennox Barr
- Pilot Officer Peter Thomas Bath (24)
- Flight Sergeant John Edward Beaman (21)
- Sergeant Peter Franklyn Beard
- Flight Sergeant Arthur Beaumont
- Flying Officer John Creighton Beck (23)
- Flight Lieutenant John Rogers Beckett (27)
- Pilot Officer Alexander Matthew James Bell (34)
- Pilot Officer John Bell (22)
- Flight Sergeant Jack Norman Ernest Bennett (30)
- Pilot Officer Ciro Bertoia (20)
- Sergeant Frank George Stanley Bilney (21)
- Sergeant Leonard Douglas Blackford (24)
- Sergeant Frank Bolton (19)
See all 276 who died on 22 March →
Source: Wikipedia — Bombing of Frankfurt am Main in World War II →