11 - 12 May 1944

 

Bourg-Leopold (Leopoldsburg):

190 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of 5 Group, with 3 Mosquitos of 8 Group, were dispatched to attack the large military camp in Belgium. 5 Lancasters lost.

Boulogne:

80 Halifaxes, 47 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of 6 and 8 Groups.  2 Halifaxes lost.

Hasselt:

126 Hallifaxes and 6 Mosquitos of 1 and 8 Groups.  5 Lancasters lost.

Trouville:

53 Halifaxes of 4 Group and 6 Pathfinder Mosquitoes. No aircraft lost.

Colline Beaumont:

53 Halifaxes of 4 Group and 6 Pathfinder Mosquitoes.

 

Louvain (Leuven):

105 Lancasters and 5 mosquitoes of 3 and 8 Groups (Squadrons 15, 115, 514, 622 and the New Zealand 75 Squadron) attacked the railway yards but the main weight of the bombing hit the railway workchops nearby storage buildings. 4 Lancasters lost.

Also the next day the RAF was bombing Louvain. This raid was more accurate.

The local report, which consolidates the 2 raids, conforms that the railways were  badly damaged and says that parts of the system were still being repaired 6 months later.

But civilian casualties were also heavy, with 160 people killed and 208 injured in Louvain and its suburbs of Herent and Wilsele. Building damage in Louvain included 5 blocks of the university, 8 factories, 4 convents and a church.

 

Info: Bomber Command War Diaries, Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt ISBN 0-670-80137-2