| Operation Gisela
On the night of 3rd/4th March 1945 the Luftwaffe sent around 200 Ju88 nightfighters to intercept Allied bombers returning to base at their most vulnerable point whilst in the landing circuit.
The German aircraft crossed the North Sea at low altitude between the Thames Estuary and up the east coast to North Yorkshire. The Bomber Command sorties that evening comprised attacks on the synthetic oil plant at Kamen and the Dortmund Ems canal at Ladbergen. 234 aircraft from 4 & 6 Groups took on the first mission, with 222 Lancasters and Mosquitoes from 5 Group targetting the canal. The BC operations went according to plan until the return of the bombers in the early hours on Sunday 4th, when many were attacked by intruders.
As a result of Gisela, Bomber Command lost 20 aircraft with others being damaged, in addition to the 7 reported missing on the raids themselves, all on the canal raid. The Luftwaffe also lost around 40 aircraft, mostly in crashes on the way back to Germany due to adverse weather conditions and faulty navigation at low level.
Max Williams |