Le Mans, Edward King's 12th operation on his tour
Title
Le Mans, Edward King's 12th operation on his tour
Description
Five items, the first is Edward's description of the operation to the marshalling yards at Le Mans. He describes the anti-aircraft fire, and conditions over the target. Edward's navigation plot, the H2S plot of Le Mans, a press cutting with three photographs of the damage done by Bomber Command in an attack in March, a newspaper cutting describing allied air attacks on rail centres including Le Mans.
Creator
Date
1944-05-19
1944-05-20
Language
Format
A handwritten note, a navigation log, H2S plot, a press cutting with two photographs, a newspaper cutting
Publisher
Rights
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
Identifier
SKingEJ182986v10053, SKingEJ182986v10054, SKingEJ182986v10055, SKingEJ182986v10056, SKingEJ182986v10058
Transcription
[underlined] Le Mans. [/underlined]
[underlined] Marshalling Yards. [/underlined]
[underlined] 19/5/44 [/underlined]
Airborne 2225
[underlined] Landed 0330. [/underlined]
Flak seen from Le Havre on way in, also Le Havre lighthouse.
Target – very concentrated trace. Air Bomber saw sheds and bombed them.
Searchlight tried to get us when crossing the coast coming out but did stall turn through it.
Four small ships seen S.E. of Guernsey in port echelon on course of 120° – probably M.T.B.s or E-boats.
[page break]
[map]
[inserted] LE MANS [/inserted]
[page break]
[map]
LE MANS
Marshalling Yard
[page break]
[photograph]
LE MANS MARSHALLING YARD HEAVILY DAMAGED
Severe damage to all parts of the Yard can be seen after the attack by aircraft of Bomber Command on the night of 13/14th March, 1944. Many wagons in the Marshalling Sidings (A) have been destroyed, derailed and damaged by fire. The Transhipment Sheds (B) have received several direct hits and are heavily damaged. The Engine Sheds (C) have a number of bays destroyed and the Repair Shops are heavily damaged by blast.
[photograph]
B
[photograph]
C
43
[page break]
[underlined] R.A.F. Smash Four Key Rail Towns [/underlined]
THOUSANDS OF TONS RAINED ON FRANCE
Paris and Germany To-day
[italics] Officially announced this afternoon that Flying Fortresses attacked airfields at Orby, Villacoublay, and Campaign, near Rheims, to-dark. They had a very strong fighter escort. [/italics]
[italics] "Evening News" [/italics] Air Correspondent
THE night and day air war on Europe is on again with full fury.
Hundreds of R.A.F. heavies in the night struck at four key rail towns in France, bomber fleets swept out again across the Straits to-day – and Achtungs warned Germany of bomber and fighter formations ranging across the Reich.
The R.A.F. night bombers in great strength struck four simultaneous blows at the French invasion railway system – Boulogne, Orleans, Tours and Le Mans – for the loss of seven planes, one of the smallest losses on record.
All the attacks were made by four-engined Lancasters and Halifaxes, and it is reckoned that the bomb-loads totalled thousands of tons, as the bombers would carry maximum weights on their comparatively short journeys.
Paris Hit To-day
After this night attack Paris radio reported that U.S. planes attacked the outskirts of Paris, south-west of the capital, this morning, doing great damage.
Thousands were left homeless by the R.A.F.'s violent night attacks, said the radio.
The R.A.F.s four main targets – marshalling yards, goods depots and railway junctions at Boulogne, Orleans, Tours, and Le Mans – are all vital points on the "spider's web" of railway communications covering Northern France generally
The targets were clearly identified and the bombing was well concentrated, says an R.A.F. communique. Military objectives on the coast of France were also bombed.
[underlined] Marshalling Yards. [/underlined]
[underlined] 19/5/44 [/underlined]
Airborne 2225
[underlined] Landed 0330. [/underlined]
Flak seen from Le Havre on way in, also Le Havre lighthouse.
Target – very concentrated trace. Air Bomber saw sheds and bombed them.
Searchlight tried to get us when crossing the coast coming out but did stall turn through it.
Four small ships seen S.E. of Guernsey in port echelon on course of 120° – probably M.T.B.s or E-boats.
[page break]
[map]
[inserted] LE MANS [/inserted]
[page break]
[map]
LE MANS
Marshalling Yard
[page break]
[photograph]
LE MANS MARSHALLING YARD HEAVILY DAMAGED
Severe damage to all parts of the Yard can be seen after the attack by aircraft of Bomber Command on the night of 13/14th March, 1944. Many wagons in the Marshalling Sidings (A) have been destroyed, derailed and damaged by fire. The Transhipment Sheds (B) have received several direct hits and are heavily damaged. The Engine Sheds (C) have a number of bays destroyed and the Repair Shops are heavily damaged by blast.
[photograph]
B
[photograph]
C
43
[page break]
[underlined] R.A.F. Smash Four Key Rail Towns [/underlined]
THOUSANDS OF TONS RAINED ON FRANCE
Paris and Germany To-day
[italics] Officially announced this afternoon that Flying Fortresses attacked airfields at Orby, Villacoublay, and Campaign, near Rheims, to-dark. They had a very strong fighter escort. [/italics]
[italics] "Evening News" [/italics] Air Correspondent
THE night and day air war on Europe is on again with full fury.
Hundreds of R.A.F. heavies in the night struck at four key rail towns in France, bomber fleets swept out again across the Straits to-day – and Achtungs warned Germany of bomber and fighter formations ranging across the Reich.
The R.A.F. night bombers in great strength struck four simultaneous blows at the French invasion railway system – Boulogne, Orleans, Tours and Le Mans – for the loss of seven planes, one of the smallest losses on record.
All the attacks were made by four-engined Lancasters and Halifaxes, and it is reckoned that the bomb-loads totalled thousands of tons, as the bombers would carry maximum weights on their comparatively short journeys.
Paris Hit To-day
After this night attack Paris radio reported that U.S. planes attacked the outskirts of Paris, south-west of the capital, this morning, doing great damage.
Thousands were left homeless by the R.A.F.'s violent night attacks, said the radio.
The R.A.F.s four main targets – marshalling yards, goods depots and railway junctions at Boulogne, Orleans, Tours, and Le Mans – are all vital points on the "spider's web" of railway communications covering Northern France generally
The targets were clearly identified and the bombing was well concentrated, says an R.A.F. communique. Military objectives on the coast of France were also bombed.
Collection
Citation
Edward King, “Le Mans, Edward King's 12th operation on his tour,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed June 1, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/34389.
Item Relations
This item has no relations.