Essen

30 April 1943 — Essen

Date
30 April 1943
Target
Essen, Germany
Force dispatched
305 aircraft
Aircraft lost
12

Narrative

Cloud lay over the Ruhr on the last night of April, and the 305 aircraft sent to Essen — mostly Lancasters and Halifaxes — had to be marked by Oboe sky-marking, the Mosquitoes of No. 109 Squadron releasing parachute flares blind above the overcast for the main force to aim at as they fell. It was the least reliable form of marking, and the bombing was scattered: only modest damage was done, with some 189 buildings destroyed and 237 badly damaged, the Krupp works again among the places hit, and around 50 people killed. Despite the cloud 238 crews claimed to have bombed the target. Twelve bombers failed to return, 3.9 per cent of the force — a lighter loss than the clear-night raids, the same overcast that spoiled the marking also hampering the night-fighters. The raid showed the limits of Oboe: it could put markers over a hidden city, but with the ground unseen it could not guarantee that the bombs followed them down.

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

151 airmen in this archive died on 30 April 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.

See all 151 who died on 30 April →

Source: Wikipedia — Battle of the Ruhr →