Rabbit Leader Posted April 20, 2020 Share Posted April 20, 2020 All, Just trying to work out which units (and hence) individual aircraft took part in Bomber Command’s first Berlin Air Raid on the night of 25/26 August 1940.? I’ve got small bits of information collected, however just wondering if there is a concise reference out there and possible photographs specifically tied to this particular mission. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Cheers and thanks.. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jure Miljevic Posted April 20, 2020 Share Posted April 20, 2020 Hello Dave Probably old news to you, but still ... In his book Before the storm (Cassell) Robert Jackson mentions that Squadrons from 3rd, 4th and 5th Group took part in the raid. However, he does not lists all participating squadrons, just those with bombers actually bombing (or their crews claiming to bomb) Berlin: ˝Aircraft claiming successful attacks are from 44, 49, 50, 58, 61, 83 and 99 Squadron.˝. Cheers Jure 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted April 20, 2020 Author Share Posted April 20, 2020 I appreciate that Jure. That’s a good start and from that list I see five Hampden squadrons and one each for the Whitley and Wellington. Cheers.. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Posted April 20, 2020 Share Posted April 20, 2020 Hi Dave. A book that you may wish to borrow from your library is "The Bomber Command War Diaries" by Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt, ISBN 0-670-80137-2. This is quite a weighty tome of over 800 pages and gives an almost day by day record of RAF bomber sorties between 1939 and 1945. Robin. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhitleyZ6743 Posted April 20, 2020 Share Posted April 20, 2020 From "The Bomber Command War Diaries" by Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt 25/26 August 1940 "103 aircraft were dispatched on operations and aproximately half of these, mostly Hampdens and Wellingtons, were sent to Berlin." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Alan Bardell Posted April 20, 2020 Share Posted April 20, 2020 Hi Dave, do you have access to: THE OTHER FEW BY LARRY DONNELY DFM Published by Red Kite. The following are listed as lost/missing from the Berlin raid: Hampden P4416 - 49 sqd - lost with out trace Hampden P2070 - 50 sqd - Forced landed Lautersheim Germany Hampden P2124 - 50 sqn - Ditched of Scarborough Hampden P1354 - 83 sqn - Ditched in the wash Hampden P4380 - 83 sqn - Ditched off Grimsby Hampden X2895 - 83 sqn - Crashed at Bolden Co Durham. Hope this may be of use/help. I can recommend this book it's a look at the work of Bomber and Coastal Commands during the Battle of Britain. Regards Paul 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted April 20, 2020 Share Posted April 20, 2020 Aah! I was just about to lift my tukkus off this chair and go downstairs and look through my Bomber Command War Diaries, but I guess I don't have to now. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jure Miljevic Posted April 20, 2020 Share Posted April 20, 2020 Hello According to 99 Sqn. ORB nine Wellingtons flew on a Berlin mission. Six of them could not find or identify their targets and they brought bombs back or jettisoned them in a sea with only three aircraft bombing their targets. I understand two of them were Wellingtons Mk.Ic R3289 and P9243. The third aircraft is given as P4242, but this must be a typo as this serial belongs to a batch assigned to Swordfishes. Cheers Jure 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted April 20, 2020 Author Share Posted April 20, 2020 Thanks for all the latest comments gents, much appreciated. @paul bardell, that ‘Other Few’ book is certainly one I’ve had my eye on and is something I’d like to obtain one of these days. It’s a shame that due to this pandemic, international postage is not as reliable as it once was, so I might wait until things settle a bit. Cheers.. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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