Thousand-bomber raids facts for kids
The "thousand-bomber raid" was a special name for three big night bombing attacks by the Royal Air Force (RAF) against cities in Germany. These raids happened in the summer of 1942 during World War II.
This name was used for propaganda. Propaganda is like a way to spread information to make people think or feel a certain way. In this case, it was to show how powerful the RAF was. Arthur Harris, a leader in the RAF, made sure they had 1,000 planes. To do this, he included not only planes ready for battle but also planes used for training. Most of these planes were medium-sized bombers, like the Vickers Wellington, which had two engines.
Later in the war, the RAF got more heavy bombers. These were bigger planes with four engines. This meant they could drop more bombs with fewer aircraft. Later large RAF raids used between 400 and 700 of these four-engined bombers. Sometimes, the RAF could even send two groups of 400 bombers to different targets on the same night. For example, nearly 800 planes were used in Operation Gomorrah in 1943 and the attack on Dresden in 1945. In February 1944, almost 900 planes went to Berlin. With other missions that night, more than 1,000 bombers were flying. However, after June 1942, 1,000 bombers were never sent to attack just one target again.
What Were the Thousand-Bomber Raids?
These were three specific night raids where the RAF tried to send 1,000 or more aircraft.
- Cologne Raid (May 30–31, 1942): This was the first "thousand-bomber raid," called ""Operation Millennium"." A total of 1,047 planes were sent to attack Cologne. This raid was the first time the RAF used a "bomber stream." This meant all the planes flew close together in a narrow line. This made it harder for enemy radar and defenses to stop them. The RAF recorded that 868 bombers hit the target. They dropped 1,455 tons of bombs. Over 3,000 buildings were completely destroyed, and 9,000 more were damaged.
- Essen Raid (June 1–2, 1942): This was the second "thousand-bomber raid." 956 planes were sent to attack Essen. However, thick clouds covered the target. This made it very hard for the bombers to see where to drop their bombs. Because of this, the bombing was not very effective.
- Bremen Raid (June 25–26, 1942): This was the third "thousand-bomber raid." The RAF gathered 960 aircraft for this attack on Bremen. This included planes from No. 2 Group RAF (who usually bombed during the day) and 102 planes from RAF Coastal Command. The attack targeted several important places. These included the Focke-Wulf factory, the A.G. Weser shipyard, and the Deschimag shipyard. They also attacked the town and docks generally. Even with cloud cover, a special radio navigation system called GEE helped. Just under 700 planes successfully bombed Bremen.
See also
- Strategic bombing during World War II
