Remscheid

30 July 1943 — Remscheid

Date
30 July 1943
Target
Remscheid, Germany
Force dispatched
273 aircraft
Aircraft lost
15

Narrative

The raid on Remscheid was the final blow of the Battle of the Ruhr. Only 273 aircraft were sent against the comparatively small town on the southern edge of the Ruhr, but Oboe ground-marking was very accurate and the 871 tons of bombs that followed wrought destruction out of all proportion to the size of the force — by some accounts more than 80 per cent of the built-up area was laid waste. Over 3,000 houses were destroyed and more than a hundred industrial buildings wrecked, costing the town an estimated three months of production, while more than 1,100 people were killed. Fifteen bombers were lost. With Remscheid the offensive that Sir Arthur Harris had opened against the Ruhr in March 1943 came to a close, as the weight of Bomber Command’s effort shifted that summer to Hamburg and the cities beyond.

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

292 airmen in this archive died on 30 July 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 292 who died on 30 July →

Source: Wikipedia — Battle of the Ruhr →