ROYAL AIR FORCE BOMBER COMMAND-SAINT-NAZAIRE-28 FEBRUARY 1943/1 MARCH 1943

ROYAL AIR FORCE Bomber Command

Night: 28 February 1943/1 March 1943
Raid: SAINT-NAZAIRE, Brittany, France

(06h25pm to 02h00am, good weather)

R.A.F. Group	Squadron	Aircraft	Total	Comments	Lost
P.F.F.	No.83	Lancaster	19	In Saint-Nazaire, the alarm is given at	1
(Pathfinders)	No.35	Halifax II	8	08h25pm ('German' time). A 83 Squadron's	1
	No.7	Stirling	2	Lancaster crashes in area. A 35 Squadron's
	No.109	Mosquito	2	Halifax crashes on return at Harrowbeer.
				Burnings in the town are seen from 40 Miles
				around.

No.1 Group	No.12	Lancaster	10	67 No.1 Group's aircraft:
	No.101	Lancaster	11	- 45 Lancaster drop 44 bombs of 4000 lb,
	No.103	Lancaster	11	1440 of 30 lb inc., 3060 of 4 lb & 2250 of
	No.166	Wellington	7	4 lb type X inc.
	No.199	Wellington	8	- 22 Wellington drop 4 bombs of 4000 lb,
	No.300	Wellington	4	7 of 500 lb, 1 of 250lb, 408 bombs of 30 lb inc.
	No.301	Wellington	4	8610 of 4 lb inc., 510 of 4 lb type X.
	No.305	Wellington	3	(from 09h06pm to 09h56pm).
	No.460	Lancaster	13	Most of crews estimate to have bombed the
				target.

No.3 Group	No.115	Wellington	4	Saint-Nazaire is reported as 'a mass in
	No.15	Stirling	13	flames'.
	No.75	Stirling I	6	Only 11 No.15 Squadron's Stirling reach
	No.90	Stirling	9	Saint-Nazaire (2 Stirlings have technical	1
	No.149	Stirling	12	problems and return to Base).
	No.214	Stirling	11	A No.90 Squadron's Stirling (P/O SPAIN,
	No.218	Stirling I	9	R9349/U) crashes near Avranches on return.	1
				No.149 Squadron's crews report that their
				bombs were dropped in the town centre.
				A No.218 Squadron's Stirling crashes on
				take-off (Downham Market).

No.4 Group	No.51	Halifax	71	A Halifax crashes in a bus on landing (Snaith)	1
	No.429	Halifax		No.196 Squadron: Mission from 06h04pm to
	No.196	Wellington	13	01h10am. Altitude of the drop: 13500 ft.

No.5 Group	No.49	Wellington	33	A No.49 Squadron's aircraft (mission: mine-	1
	No.44	Lancaster I	87	laying) crashes in the sea. The crew is buried	1
	No…		…	in Escoubiac.
				A No.44 Squadron's aircraft crashes on
				return in England.
				86 Lancaster attack with success. Clear
				weather. A few fog. Flak (not strong) is
				reported.

No.6 Group	No.408	Halifax	21	- 21 Halifax from Nos.408 & 419 Squadrons.
	No.419	Halifax		A No.419 Squadron's Halifax has to return to
	No.420	Wellington	64	base early (DT-699 VR-'L', one engine u/s).
	No.424	Wellington		- 64 Wellington from Nos.420, 424, 425, 426,
	No.425	Wellington		427, 428 & 429 Squadrons.	1
	No.426	Wellington		One No.425 Squadron's aircraft crashes on
	No.427	Wellington		take-off (BJ-918 KW-'F', the starboard	2
	No.428	Wellington		engine lost power).
	No.429	Wellington		One No.426 Squadron's aircraft returns to
				base early (hydraulics are u/s).
				2 No.427 Squadron's aircraft crash (one on
				return to England, X-3563 ZL-'T', crew
				interned in Ireland) & one in the sea near
				the target (BK-343 ZL-'V', 5 killed, one
				PoW: Sergeant E. Allison).
				2 No.428 Squadron's aircraft return to
				base early (first has the port engine u/s,
				the second has the starboard engine u/s).
				One No.429 Squadron's aircraft returns to
				base early (fire in the bomb bay).
				Altitude over the target between 12000 and
				20000 ft. Serious damage to the dock area
				and portions of the town.


			TOTAL
			437	409 aircraft have reached the target and
				bombed the harbour works. 552 tons of
				bombs have been dropped.
				60% of the town is destroyed.
				Firemen from Pouliguen and Nantes come.
				39 persons are dead, 36 are wounded.
				After this raid, on 1st March, it is decided to
				evacuate the population (4194 persons are
				evacuated).
				The waves of aircraft are seen over
				Quimperlé, alarm from 08h50pm to 10h30pm
				(local time).