Bremen
Raid target — Germany
19 raids in this database struck Bremen — 3,225 aircraft sorties dispatched in total, of which 83 failed to return.
| Date | Operation | Command | Dispatched | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 Jul 1941 | Operation Wreckage | Bomber Command | 15 | 4 |
| 17 Jan 1942 | Bremen raid | Bomber Command | 83 | 0 |
| 21 Jan 1942 | Bremen raid | Bomber Command | 54 | 1 |
| 10 Feb 1942 | Bremen raid | Bomber Command | 55 | 0 |
| 3 Jun 1942 | Bremen raid | Bomber Command | 170 | 0 |
| 25 Jun 1942 | Bremen raid | Bomber Command | 960 | 48 |
| 27 Jun 1942 | Bremen raid | Bomber Command | 144 | 0 |
| 29 Jun 1942 | Bremen raid | Bomber Command | 253 | 0 |
| 2 Jul 1942 | Bremen raid | Bomber Command | 325 | 0 |
| 4 Sep 1942 | Bremen raid | Bomber Command | 251 | 0 |
| 13 Sep 1942 | Bremen raid | Bomber Command | 446 | 21 |
| 21 Feb 1943 | Bremen raid | Bomber Command | 143 | None |
| 8 Oct 1943 | Bremen raid | Bomber Command | 119 | 0 |
| 23 Mar 1944 | Bremen raid | Bomber Command | 117 | 2 |
| 18 Aug 1944 | Bremen raid | Bomber Command | None | None |
| 17 Sep 1944 | Bremen raid | Bomber Command | 71 | None |
| 6 Oct 1944 | Bremen raid | Bomber Command | 19 | 7 |
| 2 Jan 1945 | Bremen raid | Bomber Command | None | None |
| 22 Apr 1945 | Bremen raid | Bomber Command | None | None |
Photographs
The Polish Air Force in the Air Offensive Against Germany, 1942-1945 Vickers Wellington Mark IV, Z1407 ‘BH-Z’, “Zośka”, of No. 300 Polish Bomber Squadron RAF on the ground at Ingham, Lincolnshire, having lost most of its rear fuselage fabric through battle damage sustained on 4/5 September 1942 when raiding Bremen, Germany. In spite of a damaged wireless set, a badly working rudder, damaged flaps and no navigational instruments, the pilot, Pilot Officer Stanisław Machej, with the cooperation of his whole crew, brought the aircraft safely home.
ⓘ licence & credit
Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vickers_Wellington_at_Ingham_-_Polish_Air_Force_in_the_air_offensive_against_Germany,_1942-1945_CH7350.jpgView source & full licence →Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. Avro Lancaster B Mark I, R5626 ‘OL-E’, of No. 83 Squadron RAF taking off for Bremen, Germany, on the third ‘Thousand-Bomber’ raid, from Scampton, Lincolnshire.
ⓘ licence & credit
Brock F J (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH6097.jpgView source & full licence →Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. An Avro Lancaster B Mark I of No. 83 Squadron RAF is signalled off on the third ‘Thousand Bomber’ raid, an attack on Bremen, Germany from Scampton, Lincolnshire. The Wing Commander (Flying) gives a green light for take off with his Aldis lamp.
ⓘ licence & credit
Brock F J (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH6091.jpgView source & full licence →Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. Aircrew of No. 83 Squadron RAF pack their rations on the lawn in front of the hangars at Scampton, Lincolnshire, before boarding their Avro Lancasters for a night raid on Bremen.
ⓘ licence & credit
Brock F J (Fg Off), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH6085.jpgView source & full licence →Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. The Navigational Officer of No. 83 Squadron RAF points out the course of a bombing raid to Bremen on a large map in the Briefing Room at Scampton, Lincolnshire.
ⓘ licence & credit
Royal Air Force official photographer, Brock (Fg Off) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH6080.jpgView source & full licence →Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Bomber Command Hampdens of No 44 Squadron on a practice flight, September 1941. The foreground aircraft, AE257, was lost on an operation to Bremen on 21-22 October.
ⓘ licence & credit
Daventry B J (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Bomber_Command_CH3481.jpgView source & full licence →Operation WRECKAGE: low-level daylight attack on targets in Bremen by aircraft of No. 2 Group. Low-level oblique photograph taken from the nose of a Bristol Blenheim Mark IV during this determined daylight raid by nine aircraft drawn from Nos. 105 and 107 Squadrons RAF. Docks, railways and factory buildings were successfully attacked for the loss of 4 Blenheims. Wing Commander H I Edwards, the Commanding Officer of 105 Squadron, was awarded the Victoria Cross for leading the attack.
ⓘ licence & credit
Royal Air Force Film Production Unit / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Operation_WRECKAGE_-_low-level_daylight_attack_on_targets_in_Bremen_by_aircraft_of_No._2_Group.jpgView source & full licence →{{En-gb|Armourers checking the bomb load of an Avro Lancaster of No. 207 Squadron RAF at Syerston, Nottinghamshire, before a night bombing operation to Bremen, 13 September 1942. (RAF) armourers make final checks on the bomb load of an Avro Lancaster B Mark I of at in , before a night bombing operation to , Germany. The mixed load ( executive codeword ‘Usual’), consists of a HC bomb (‘cookie’) and small bomb containers (SBCs) filled with incendiaries, with the addition of four target indicators (TI).}}
ⓘ licence & credit
Royal Air Force (RAF) official photographer, Daventry B J (Flying Officer) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Armourers_checking_the_bomb_load_of_an_Avro_Lancaster_of_No._207_Squadron_RAF_at_Syerston,_Nottinghamshire,_before_a_night_bombing_operation_to_View source & full licence →Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. Avro Lancaster B Mark I, R5620 ‘OL-H’, of No. 83 Squadron RAF, leads the queue of aircraft waiting to take off from Scampton, Lincolnshire, on the ‘Thousand-Bomber’ raid to Bremen, Germany. R5620, flown by Pilot Officer J R Farrow and his crew, was the only aircraft to be lost by the Squadron that night.
ⓘ licence & credit
Brock F J (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH6092.jpgView source & full licence →Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. A queue of Avro Lancaster B Mark Is of No. 83 Squadron RAF, waiting to take off from Scampton, Lincolnshire, on the ‘Thousand-Bomber’ raid to Bremen, Germany. A crewman on the leading Lancaster, R5620 ‘OL-H’, gives the ‘V’ sign from the emergency exit hatch. This aircraft, flown by Pilot Officer J R Farrow and his crew, failed to return from the raid.
ⓘ licence & credit
Brock F J (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH6095.jpgView source & full licence →Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. The Squadron Commander of No. 207 Squadron RAF, Wing Commander F R Jeffs, wishes his aircrews good luck at Syerston, Nottinghamshire before they board their aircraft for a night raid on Bremen, Germany. 207 Squadron were detached from their base at Bottesford, Leicestershire, to Syerston in August 1942 and moved from Bottesford/Syerston to Langar, Nottinghamshire, the following month.
ⓘ licence & credit
Daventry B J (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945._CH7127.jpgView source & full licence →RAF Bomber Command 1940 Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mk IV P5004 of No. 77 Squadron RAF at RAF Topcliffe, 19 November 1940. This aircraft was lost on 25/26 June 1942 during the ‘1,000 bomber’ raid on Bremen, while operating with No. 10 OTU.
ⓘ licence & credit
Press Agency photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RAF_Bomber_Command_1940_HU104648.jpgView source & full licence →A Boeing B-17F-95-BO Flying Fortress (serial number 42-30275) nicknamed “Vibrant Virgin” GX-P of the 548th Bombardment Squadron, 385th Bombardment Group in flight. It failed to return from a mission to the shipyards at Bremen, Germany on 8 October 1943 (10 aircrew became POWs). The formation was met with stiff resistance by German fighters and flak crews on the ground the entire way, from the Dutch coast all the way into the German heartland, and back again. In addition, a large force of German fighters launched vicious attacks sgainst the planes. Over the target, the formation encountered intense flak. Damaged by flak, it crashed near Quakenbrück, Germany. MACR 825. Handwritten caption on reverse: ‘HH. Vibrant Virgin, 1/Lt. John Pettenger.’