Berlin. 622 aircraft, 47 losses (7.6%). Stirling losses were some 16.0% Fighter flares were used by the German night-fighters for the first time to mark the path of the main force both into and out of the target area. This raid was not a success. Cloud, combined with the now familiar problems with the H2S equipment and the effective defences of the city conspired to make the PFF marking very difficult. Creepback was an additional problem and it is said that the fires stretched back some 30 miles! Only 85 homes were destroyed. There were 68 deaths. Goebbels ordered that all children and any adults not engaged in war work be evacuated to the country.
Reason for Loss: Suffered an engine failure on the outbound leg but the crew decided to press on since they had turned back for the same reason in the past. Successfully dropped its bomb load but then veered south of the intended route back to England- in part due to the lack of power. As a result, the aircraft strayed into the heavily defended Ruhr area and was hit by flak. Crashed at Datteln, Germany.
