14th March 1945. Weather: Fine, with fog around dawn. Non-Operational Flying: H2S and GH Training and Cross Country. Operational Flying: BOMBING – HEINRICHSHUTTE. 19 aircraft detailed. 19 aircraft took off and 17 attacked primary target. 2 aircraft returned early. Weather was 10/10ths cloud, tops 7/12,000 feet visibility. Formation poor. Skies were clear before and after the target, and flak moderate to intense but slight over target. 4 aircraft damaged. Wireless Operator of 514/‘H’ killed. No fighters seen. 1 aircraft seen shot down. S/L KG Condict in LM724, JI-H reported: reported: Bomb load 1 x 4000 HC, 11 x 500 ANM64, 1 Sky marker Red Puff. Primary target: HEINRICHSHUTTE. Bombed at 1640 hours from 18,500 feet on GH. 1 Red smoke puff as we bombed. At 1642 hours North of Hattingen, a burst of heavy flak caught the aircraft killing the Wireless Operator (F/S WJ Sparkes) instantly. Squadron formation good. Target: Hattingen (Bochum) – Heinrichshutte Benzol Plant Aircraft deployed total: 169 (Lancasters) 514 Squadron: 19 (2 returned early) Aircraft lost total: 1 514 Squadron: Nil. Comments: 3 Group mounted a joint attack on benzol plants at Datteln and Hattingen. Using GH through the cloud cover, the bombing appeared accurate. 1 aircraft was lost from the Hattingen raid.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 10:47:37 +0000
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