Page 19 - Roland Robert John Young

Fourth Operation

nd
February 22 1945 Take off: 16.45pm. Return: 22.00.

Duisburg/Hamborn - Benzol refinery. Lancaster identification not known.

286 Lancasters and 16 Mosquitos of No. 1, 3 and 8 Groups. 2 Lancasters lost. This
raid was intended for the benzol plant in the Bruckhausen district of Duisburg. This
target was identified visually by moonlight and much damage was inflicted on it.
Further bombing also hit the nearby Thyssen steelworks, either by misidentification
or by a simple spread of the bombing. Duisburg's local report assumed that the
steelworks were the primary target and stated that 500 high explosive bombs fell on
the Thyssen premises.