Augsburg – 25/26 February 1944 - Firestorm
The turn southwards away from the heavy defences of Northern Germany cam as a welcome relief to the crew and commanders of Bomber Command. Augsburg deep in the Nazi heartland was an important industrial centre and the home to both the Messerschmitt works and the MAN diesel factory.
On this night Harris sent 594 bombers against this high value target. For the second time the new tactic of a split attack was used with two bomber streams crossing into Europe view France and Holland. The southern inbound route which was followed by the first force had previously been used by crews fro Operational Training Units for leaflet operations. As a result this drew little attention from the German controllers. Well to the north 131 aircraft mined Kiel Bay to keep attention on the route to Berlin. This effort was backed up by 22 Mosquitos raiding a number of airfields in Holland but to further confuse the German controllers another 15 Mosquitos made diversionary raids on four German towns to the north of the southern route to Augsburg. Radio countermeasures sorties were also flown but the small size of this force, 5 aircraft, is indicative of the lack of opposition expected once the bomber stream had entered via Holland and turned southwards.
Weather conditions were for once excellent. And the two bomber streams carried out an excellent attack against minimal opposition. To the crews who had battled against heavy defences and bad weather over northern Germany in the months before this was a welcome relief and a memorable operation. . The sheer success of the raid led to some criticism in some quarters because of the destruction of the beautiful old centre of the city. This destruction arose in part due to the anticipated usual creep back as the later bomber crews progressively bombed the edge of the fire area. The industrial areas were situated in the more modern suburbs.
Planned as a blind bombing operation for the Pathfinders using H2S followed by Backers Up with different coloured Target Indicators. The unexpected clear weather and snow covered ground had led to very accurate marking of the old city centre for the Pathfinder crews.
For the second phase of the attack a slightly different technique involving marking flares was used. However this was unnecessary due to the success of the first wave. With smoke rising to 15000 ft crews of the second wave had no difficulty adding to the destruction. Due to the weak defences and clear conditions there was very little creep back and nearly all the tonnage of bombs fell within a two mile radius of the TIs.
Photo reconnaissance showed the ancient city to be obliterated with barely a single building escaping destruction. The extremely low temperature of that night had caused the nearly River Lech to freeze over together with many of the fire hoses.
Largely unchecked the fires spread out into the suburbs to destroy much of the industrial areas which had escaped the bombing
Bomber Command lost 21 aircraft 3.6 of the force which was modest price to pay compared with what the raids further north had cost during that winter. The mine laying for lost 4 aircraft that night
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103 Squadron
9 aircraft were detailed for this operation. First Up F/L M P Floyd and crew – JB736 – 1806
The weather over the target was clear and the crew bombed on the PFF ground markers which were well concentrated. A large explosion was seen by several crews and smoke reported to 15000 ft. Flak was moderate decreasing as the attack progressed. Numerous fires were seen. Searchlights were seen operating in and around the target area but were aimless in their search. Good photographs were obtained. First Down. F/L G H Russell-Fry and crew at 0206.W/O Frost and crew returned early due to oxygen failure to rear turret. F/H WH M Eddie and crew in ND417 failed to return.
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576 Squadron
15 aircraft were detailed for this operation. First Up P/O A J Bodger and crew – LL974 – 1800.
Target was found completely free from cloud cover. According to the photographs the attack proved quite effective and much damage in the target area. All or aircraft returned safely to base. First Down F/O S Slater and crew – LL799 - 0200
( 594 aircraft. A devastatingly successful attack through cloud. The old centre of Augsburg was mostly destroyed and bombing spread to the northern and eastern parts of the city including various important industrial premises. Approx 700 people killed and 90,000 people bombed out. )
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594 aircraft - 461 Lancasters, 123 Halifaxes, 10 Mosquitos - on the first large raid to Augsburg. The various diversions and the splitting of the main bomber force into 2 waves again reduced casualties still further. 21 aircraft - 16 Lancasters, 5 Halifaxes - lost, 3.6 per cent of the force; at least 4 of these casualties were due to collision.
The bombing at Augsburg was outstandingly successful in clear weather conditions and against this 'virgin' target with only weak flak defences. The Pathfinder ground-marking was accurate and the raid became controversial because of the effects of its outstanding accuracy. The beautiful old centre of Augsburg was completely destroyed by high explosive and fire, with much less than the usual spread of bombing to the more modern outer areas, where some industry was located. There were 246 large or medium fires and 820 small ones; the temperature was so cold (minus 18" Celsius) that the River Lech was frozen over and many of the water hoses also froze. The Germans publicised it as an extreme example of 'terror bombing'.
131 aircraft minelaying in Kiel Bay, 22 Mosquitos to airfields in Holland, 15 Mosquitos on diversionary raids to 4 towns to the north of the Augsburg routes, 5 RCM sorties, 10 Serrate patrols. 3 Halifaxes and 1 Stirling lost from the mine laying operation.
Total effort for the night: 777 sorties, 25 aircraft (3.2 per cent) lost.
Compiled by David Fell mostly from 103 and 576 Squadron ORBs, 1 Group ORB, By Day and by Night: Bomber War in Europe, 1939-45. Ken Merrick, Middlebrook's Bomber Command War Diaries.
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