Berlin Campaign (23 August 1943 – 25 March 1944) [entry point]

Berlin Campaign (23 August 1943 – 25 March 1944) [entry point]

Between 23rd August 1943 and 25th March 1944 Bomber Command launched 19 major attacks on Berlin as detailed below:

Operation	Start Date	End Date
Berlin	23 August 1943	24 August 1943
Berlin	31 August 1943	1 September 1943
Berlin	3 September 1943	4 September 1943
Berlin	18 November 1943	19 November 1943
Berlin	22 November 1943	23 November 1943
Berlin	23 November 1943	24 November 1943
Berlin	1943 November 26	1943 November 27
Berlin	1943 December 02	1943 December 03
Berlin	1943 December 16	1943 December 17
Berlin	1943 December 23	1943 December 24
Berlin	29 December 1943	30 December 1943
Berlin	1 January 1944	2 January 1944
Berlin	2 January 1944	3 January 1944
Berlin	20 January 1944	21 January 1944
Berlin	27 January 1944	28 January 1944
Berlin	28 January 1944	29 January 1944
Berlin	30 January 1944	31 January 1944
Berlin	15 February 1944	16 February 1944
Berlin	24 March 1944	25 March 1944

The attacks mostly occurred in four concentrated periods with up to five operations within any two week period. Other German cities were attacked during this period but Berlin remained the focus. The long winter nights gave the bombers the dark cover required to reach Berlin and back but brought the risk of bad weather; extensive cloud cover was a persistent problem. Berlin was beyond the range of Oboe and navigation was also hampered by the jamming of Gee as well as the broad city outline being difficult to pinpoint on H2S fitted to Pathfinders. Initially Lancasters, Halifaxes, Stirlings and Mosquitos were used but unacceptable Stirling losses resulted in them being withdrawn from operations over Germany in November 1943. Similarly high Halifax Mk 2 & Mk 5 losses led to them being withdrawn from Germany operations in February 1944. A total of 10,768 aircraft were dispatched to Berlin in these attacks of which 626 or 5.8% were lost. Although some attacks caused significant damage to residential areas and industrial premises other operations were less effective. During the Berlin campaign 10,305 people on the ground were killed.

Refinements:

Artwork                            Text
Map                                Text. Correspondence
Map. Navigation chart and log      Text. Diary
Moving image                       Text. Log book and record book
Photograph                         Text. Memoir
Physical object                    Text. Personal research
Physical object. Clothing          Text. Poetry
Physical object. Decoration        Text. Service material
Sound                              Text. Training material
Technical aid


• Discover how item type refinement works in the FAQ section, questions 12 and 13. The Archive also comes with a range of tools for searching and browsing content: please see the help page.
• Not all Archive items can accurately be linked to a specific date and place: see the timelines or the map. Coverage may be excellent for some operations and minimal for others. However, new items are added each week so check this page regularly.
• Entries are based on Bomber Command War Diaries: An Operational Reference Book 1939-1945 by Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt, supplemented by IBCC Digital Archive research.