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THE NUREMBERG RAID Martin Middlebrook has written many other books that deal with important turning-points in the two world wars; including The First Day on the Somme, The Kaiser’s Battle, The Peenemünde Raid, The Somme Battlefields (with Mary Middlebrook) and Arnhem 1944. He has also written two books about the Falklands War. Martin Middlebrook is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and lives near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. First published in Great Britain in 1973 by Allen Lane The Penguin Press Reprinted in 1980, 2000 and 2003 by Cassell Military Paperbacks Published in this format in Great Britain in 2009 and reprinted in 2015 by PEN & SWORD AVIATION An imprint of Pen & Sword Books Ltd 47 Church Street Barnsley, South Yorkshire S70 2AS Copyright © Martin Middlebrook, 1973, 1980, 2000, 2003, 2009, 2015 ISBN: 978 1 84415 875 1 PDF ISBN: 978 1 78337 501 1 EPUB ISBN: 978 1 78159 886 3 PRC ISBN: 978 1 78159 887 0 The right of Martin Middlebrook to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing. Printed and bound in England By CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY Pen & Sword Books Ltd incorporates the Imprints of Aviation, Atlas, Family History, Fiction, Maritime, Military, Discovery, Politics, History, Archaeology, Select, Wharncliffe Local History, Wharncliffe True Crime, Military Classics, Wharncliffe Transport, Leo Cooper, The Praetorian Press, Remember When, Seaforth Publishing and Frontline Publishing. For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED 47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, England E-mail: [email protected] This Book is dedicated to all who lost their lives flying with R.A.F. Bomber Command over Germany and Occupied Europe 1939–45, and particularly to Flying Officer Theodore Archard, a navigator in 50 Squadron, who returned safely from Nuremberg but died at Mailly-le- Camp on the night of 3–4 May 1944. Contents List of Maps List of Plates Introduction 1 The Early Years of the Bombing War 2 The Middle Years 3 Bomber Command 4 The Germans 5 30 March 1944 6 The Outward Flight 7 The Long Leg 8 Review at 00.45 9 Nuremberg 10 The Other Targets 11 Other Operations 12 The Return Flight 13 The Next Morning 14 In Germany 15 The Cost 16 An Analysis 17 Was the Nuremberg Raid Betrayed? 18 The Years that Followed Appendix 1 R.A.F. and Luftwaffe Aircraft involved in Air Operations, 30–31 March 1944 Appendix 2 Order of Battle of R.A.F. Bomber Command, 30 March 1944 Appendix 3 Luftwaffe Night Lighter Order of Battle, 30 March 1944 Appendix 4 Group and Squadron Performances Appendix 5 Bomber Command Casualties 1939–45 Acknowledgements Personal Acknowledgements Bibliography List of Maps 1 The Operational Squadrons of Bomber Command – 30 March 1944 2 The German Night-Fighter Defences 3 The Nuremberg Operation Plan 4 Nuremberg and the Aiming Point 5 The Situation at Midnight 6 The Long Leg 7 Nuremberg Area Bombing 8 Nuremberg City Boming 9 The Situation 01.00 to 01.30 10 Schweinfurt Bombing 11 The Return Flight 12 Missing and Crashed R.A.F. Aircraft LIST OF DIAGRAMS 1 Night Fighter Attack Methods 2 Bombing Accuracy on Distant Targets – March 1944 3 The Attack on Nuremberg 4 The Attach on Schweinfurt Maps and diagrams by Leo Vernon from preliminary drawings by Edward Sylvester. List of Plates 1. Sir Arthur Harris (Imperial War Museum) 2. Halifax Mark III (51 Squadron R.A.F.) 3. Lancasters (Imperial War Museum) 4. Messerschmitt 110 (Swiss Air Force) 5. Junkers 88 (Imperial War Museum) 6. Bomber Command – at play (Late Air Commander Voyce) 7. Bomber Command – on operations (F. Finlay) 8. Bombing-up a Lancaster (Australian War Memorial) 9. Bombing-up a Mosquito (J. E. L. Gower) 10. Briefing at Snaith (Imperial War Museum) 11. Luftwaffe Met. briefing (Late W. Herget) 12. A Halifax takes off (S. G. Weller) 13. Lancaster prepares to take off (Imperial War Museum) 14. Old Nuremberg (Private) 15. Luftwaffe fighter control room (Private) 16. Target indicator (Bundesarchiv, Koblenz) 17, 18, and 19. Bomb damage in Nuremberg (Hauptamt für Hochbauwesen, Nuremberg) 20. Debriefing a Halifax crew (Imperial War Museum) 21. Decorations for Luftwaffe night-fighter crew (Late W. Herget) 22. Shot-down Lancaster (Library of Modern History, Stuttgart) 23. Crash-landed Lancaster of 115 Squadron (G Kürner) 24, 25 and 26. Dead bomber crew members (Imperial War Museum) 27. Telegram (Late Mrs H. Hill) 28. Luftwaffe success confirmation (Late H. Schulte) 29. and 30. Durnbach and Berlin War Cemeteries (Commonwealth War Graves Commission) Introduction The first R.A.F. bombing action of the Second World War took place on 4 September 1939, just twenty-four hours after Britain’s declaration of war. In mid-afternoon, fifteen Blenheims and fourteen Wellingtons took off from their airfields in East Anglia to attack German capital ships reported by reconnaissance aircraft to be in Wilhelmshaven harbour and off Brunsbüttel. Flying in rain and cloud ten of the bombers failed to find their target and returned. Three more nearly bombed British warships but turned away when the ships showed the colours of the day – these three aircraft also returned without bombing. One aircraft bombed the Danish town of Esbjerg, a navigational error of 110 miles. The British Government apologized to the neutral Danes and paid compensation for the resulting deaths and damage. Forced by the low cloud to fly at less than 500 feet, most of the remaining fifteen aircraft attacked Wilhelmshaven but were heavily engaged by anti-aircraft guns which found the bombers an easy target at that low height. The battleship Scheer was struck by at least three bombs but these failed to explode, while other hits on the cruiser Emden caused only slight damage. Five Blenheims and two Wellingtons were shot down. The Operational Record Book of Bomber Command Headquarters recorded: ‘An eye-witness account obtained from secret sources shows that the action by the Blenheims was a most gallant affair and according with the best traditions of the Royal Air Force.’* This was certainly true, but almost half of the bomber force had failed to find a daylight target 270 miles from the English coast and of those which did find the target almost half again had been lost. It was a disappointing start. The last R.A.F. raid of the war against Germany took place on the night of 2–3 May 1945 when 125 Mosquitoes attacked the port of Kiel. They bombed in two waves, making use of a sophisticated navigational aid