March  1944

18th

William Uyen is still on leave after his crash so this night there is no operation planned for William.

846 aircrafts, 620 Lancaster, 209 Halifaxes, 17 Mosquitoes.  Target Frankfurt.

The German fighter force was again split.  One part was lured north by the Heligoland mining operation

but the secondpart waited in Germany and met the bomber stream just before the target was reached, although cloud made it difficult for these fithers to achieve much succes.

22 aircraft, 12 Halifaxes and 10 Lancasters were lost. 2.6% of the force.

The Pathfinders marked the target accurately and this led to heavy bombing of eastern, central and western districts of Frankfurt.

No.78 Squadron

24 aircraft detailed for operations, target Frankfurt,   16 aircraft reached an attacked the target wich was identified by red markers with yellow stars.   The crew reported a fair concentration of fires in the target area, although the attack was generally scattered.

One aircraft returned early owing to S.B. outer engine u/s,  another owing to failure of navigational aids.

Another was hit by flak on the way to the target, bombs were jettissoned and the aircraft  returned to this country,  the aircraft was badly damaged. 

Another aircraft returned early owing to failure of the starboard inner engine.

4 aircraft did not take off.

For this night the ground crew again managed to get the LW518, HX355, LV788, LV820, LV903,  LK749,  LW547, LV795, LV901, LW512, HX241 (EY-P), LV899, LV872, LV877,  LV876, LV868, LV905, LW511, LW520 and LX762 in the air for this operation.

No Aircrafts lost on this raid.

March 1944

19th

No Operations or standby for No.78 Squadron

20th

11 aircraft detailed for operations, Later cancelled.

21st

11 aircraft detailed for operations, Later cancelled.

Returned early

LW518

F/S Carter took off from Breighton Air Base towards Frankfurt at 19:28, returned early due to starboard outboard engine failure and low oil pressure.

Farthest point reaches 50.25N / 0313E. Bombs thrown into the sea. Landed at Breighton at 22.49.

Returned early

LK749

P/O Crawford took off from Breighton at 19:38, returned early due to failure of navigation equipment and GEE and S.B.A. defective.

Farthest point reaches 53.40N / 00.40W. Bombs thrown into the sea. Landed at Breighton at 21.57.

Returned early

LW547

F/O Murry took to the air from Breighton Air Base at 19:27. returned early because he was hit by Flak. Bombs were thrown into the sea.

Landed at Ford Air Base on the way back.

Returned early

LV877

F/S Wilson departed Breighton at 19:16, but unfortunately had to turn back due to problems with the starboard inboard engine and constant speed equipment

Landed at Bungay Air Base on return.