1944 bombing operations

1944 bombing operations

Four newspaper cuttings from 1944 describing four separate operations. Salzburg captioned 'Oct 17 1944', Essen captioned 'Oct 25th 1944', Dunkirk and Vienna captioned 'Nov 4th 1944' and Gelsenkirchen captioned 'Nov 6th 1944'.

1944-10-17

1944-10-25

1944-11-04

1944-11-06

Four newspaper cuttings on an album page

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SMarshallS1594781v10011

Oct 14 1944
Bombers near Hitler’s home
R.A.F. heavy bombers were again out early last night for the third night in succession.
The German News Agency says that Salzburg, 13 miles from Berchtesgaden, Hitler’s mountain hide-out, was raided at noon yesterday for the first time.
“The cathedral was heavily damaged and the historic Mozart house was destroyed,” added Berlin. Salzburg was Mozart’s birthplace.
[underlined] Duisburg [/underlined] continues to burn, following Sunday’s two great raids. Factories are smashed, railways torn up, and warehouses burned out.

Oct 25th 1944
RAF’s Great Essen Raid In Daylight
More than 2,200 Allied heavy bombers blasted targets in the Ruhr and other German industrial areas yesterday.
Main target for more than 1,000 Lancasters and Halifaxes that concentrated on the Ruhr in the afternoon was Essen.
It was the R.A.F.’s second major assault on the great Krupp’s armament city in 36 hours.
After a half-hour attack, smoke rose from large fires to a height of 10,000 ft.
The synthetic oil plant at Homberg was also plastered.
Over 1,200 Flying Fortresses and Liberators attacked Hamm railway yards, oil refineries in the Hamburg-Harburg area, and other objectives

Nov 4th 1944
Dunkirk, Vienna
The heaviest fighter-bomber attacks on Dunkirk for some time were carried out by Spitfires and rocket-firing Typhoons. Low-level attacks with 1,000-lb. bombs caused a great amount of damage.
Italy-based heavies yesterday bombed targets in the Vienna area for the second day in succession.
[underlined]Bochum[/underlined], Ruhr steel and rail town, took well over 3,000 tons of bombs on Saturday night, when more than 1,000 R.A.F. Lancasters and Halifaxes gave the town its heaviest raid. Hanover was another of the night’s objectives in Western Germany.
Ten enemy planes were destroyed during the night. Thirty-four R.A.F. bombers are missing.
On Saturday afternoon more than 1,100 U.S. Fortresses and Liberators, escorted by 800 fighters, attacked the synthetic oil plants and refineries in the Hamburg-Harburg area and in the Gelsenkirchen district. Other targets were in the Hanover area and the railway yards at Saarbrucken.

Nov 6th 1944
RAF Smother Gelsenkirchen In Daylight
Gelsenkirchen, important Ruhr town, had its heaviest air attack of the war yesterday afternoon.
The blow was delivered by more than 700 R.A.F. Halifaxes and Lancasters, escorted by R.A.F. Spitfires and Mustangs.
Another great daylight attack was made by more than 1,100 U.S. Fortresses and Liberators, which attacked oil refineries in the Hamburg-Harburg area, railway yards at Neumunster, north of Hamburg, and industrial plants in the Duisburg region.
More than 700 Mustangs and Thun [sic] More than 700 bombers and ten fighters are missing, but some of the fighters are believed safe.
Shortly before six last night, R.A.F. bombers, apparently in strength, were heard flying eastwards over the Straits of Dover.