12 Squadron - Operations Record Book - July 1943

Each RAF Squadron complied a daily diary of events known as the RAF Form 540 "Summary of Events". This normally consisted of weather reports, crews posted in and out, very basic operation details and training activities. As such they are a very important historical account of squadron day to day life.

Complementing this was RAF Form 541 "Detail of Work Carried Out", which was a detailed account of each operation. This consisted of target, crew details, bomb loads and operation information gathered from the crews.

I have literally typed in what was on the printed forms and apart from obvious spelling mistakes - this is how they were. I suspect there are many errors especially where crew names are concerned. I am not sure whether to leave the errors or to correct them.

At the head of each operation I have added some extra information regarding the total Bomber Command effort for that raid.

3/4 July 1943

COLOGNE

653 aircraft - 293 Lancasters, 182 Halifaxes, 89 Wellingtons, 76 Stirlings, 13 Mosquitoes. 30 aircraft - 9 Halifaxes, 8 Lancasters, 8 Wellingtons, 5 Stirlings - lost, 4.6% of the force. Pathfinder ground marking was accurate and Cologne was hit by another heavy attack. This night saw the first use of Wilde Sau (Wild Boar) tactics by the German unit. Instead of relying on radar ground stations the technique involved using any form of illumination over a city to pick out a bomber for attack; searchlights, the glow of fires on the ground and target indicators were all used.

12 Squadron losses - 2; Sgt Hill and F/O Herron and crews

6/7 July 1943

MINELAYING

36 aircraft minelaying off Biscay ports - 1 Lancaster minelayer lost

12 Squadron losses - 0

8/9 July 1943

COLOGNE

282 Lancasters and 6 Mosquitoes of 1, 5 and 8 Groups. 7 Lancasters lost, 2.5% of the force. Oboe sky-marking was accurate and another heavy blow for Cologne followed. A total of 350,000 people were bombed out during this series of 3 raids in 1 week.

12 Squadron losses - 0

9/10 July 1943

GELSENKIRCHEN (details to follow)

418 aircraft - 218 Lancasters, 190 Halifaxes, 10 Mosquitoes. 12 aircraft - 7 Halifaxes and 5 Lancasters lost, 2.9% of the force.

12 Squadron losses - 1; Sgt Jerries and crew

12/13 July 1943

TURIN

295 Lancasters of 1, 5 and 8 Groups. 13 Lancasters lost, 4.4% of the force. The main weight of this raid fell just north of Turin's centre in clear weather conditions. This raid was to be the heaviest by Bomber Command during the 10 raids made on the city during the war. There were many electrical storms to and from the target and many aircraft were airborne for over 10 hours. My grandfather F/S Tom Forbes, Sgt Alfred Hales, Sgt William Thomas and Sgt George Deasley were tragically killed on the return trip when they crashed into the Bay of Biscay. I suspect we will never know what happened but they were possibly intercepted by night fighters known to have been patrolling off the Brest penisular.

12 Squadron losses - 1; F/S Forbes and crew