239 Halifaxes from 408, 415, 420, 424, 425, 426, 427, 429, 431, 432, 433, and 434 squadrons were joined by 44 Lancasters from 419 and 428 squadrons on an attack of the oil plants at Bottrop and Sterkrade. The crews were over the targets at between 16,000 and 21,000 feet, releasing 2,117,000 lbs of high explosives. There was thick cloud over the target and some crews bombed the alternate target at Duisberg.

F/Lt H. Reeves from 408 Squadron returned early as the stbd outer was u/s. They landed safely at base on 3 engines.
F/O H. Minhinnick returned without bombing as they were late to the target.
F/O D. Brown was hit by flak, not serious.
F/O G. Frankling was hit by flak, holes in the port aileron.

F/O L. Bowerman from 419 Squadron returned without bombing as they didn’t see any T.I’s.
F/O A. Roy was hit by flak. There were holes in the fuselage, tail, rudder and bomb doors.
F/Lt A. Bishop was hit by flak. The rear turret was hit and stbd inner u/s. They landed safely at base on 3 engines.
W/O2 L. McDonald was hit by flak, holes in the wings.
P/O A. Cohen was hit by flak, holes in the stbd wing, windscreen and bomb doors.
F/O C. Williams was hit by flak, holes in port wing, fuel tanks were leaking and rear turret was damaged.
F/O J. Anderson was hit by flak, port outer u/s and the stbd inner u/s. They landed safely at Woodbridge on 2 engines.

F/O E. Johnson from 420 Squadron returned early due to the port outer going u/s. They landed safely at base on 3 engines.
F/O F. Bird returned early due to the port inner going u/s. They landed safely at base on 3 engines.
F/O O. Austenson was hit by flak, stbd elevator and fuselage damaged.
F/Lt T. Ainslie RCAF was hit by flak. The pilot and Sgt C. Gibbs RAF, the flt/engineer were slightly injured. They landed safely at Woodbridge.

P/O J. Lang from 424 squadron returned without bombing as the load hung up over the target.
F/O L. Wright was hit by flak, holes in the fuselage.

F/O W. Forman from 425 Squadron was hit by flak, not serious.
F/O E. St. Jean was hit by flak, not serious.
F/O A. Hutcheon was hit by flak, holes in the rear turret.
F/O P. Legault was hit by flak, holes in fuselage and port outer u/s. They landed safely at base on 3 engines.

P/O C. McKinstry from 426 Squadron was hit by flak, not serious.
F/O J. Lowe was hit by flak, not serious
P/O N. Becker was hit by flak, not serious.
P/O A. McKay was hit by flak, holes in fuselage and bomb doors.
F/O L. Mann was hit by flak, holes in port wing tip.

F/Lt. A. Gilbert from 428 squadron was hit by flak, not serious.

F/Lt. E. Hawn from 429 squadron returned without bombing as there were no T.I’s.

P/O D. Rombough from 431 squadron returned without bombing was they were no T.I’s.
F/O A. Huchala returned early as they could not raise the under carriage.
F/O B. Mawhinney was hit by flak, holes in the fuselage and the navigator was injured.

F/Lt J. Woodward RCAF and crew flying Halifax VII NP-692 coded QO-K from 432 Squadron was hit by flak. There were holes in the fuselage and the pilot was severely injured and the Halifax went into a steep dive. F/O C. Hay RCAF, the navigator was able to get the Halifax under control and the rest of the crew tended to the injured skipper. F/O Hay flew the damaged Halifax to England and arriving over Woodbridge, it was found that the pilot’s parachute was torn making it impossible for him the jump. F/O Hay then had to attempt a landing. Another aircraft came up to try to guide them in to a landing.  F/O Hay came in smoothly but after touch down, they bounced up and came down hard causing the under carriage to collapse. After they stopped the Halifax caught fire and burned, but not before the crew was safely out. Sadly F/Lt Woodward died of his injuries the following day.  F/O Hay was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for this brave action.

F/O J. Burch from 433 Squadron returned early due to the port outer going u/s. They landed safely at base on 3 engines.
F/O W. Watson returned early as they didn’t see any T.I’s.
F/O D. Guy was hit by flak, not serious.
F/O W. Parker landed at Carnaby on return.

F/Lt G. Nickerson from 434 Squadron returned early as there were late getting away.
F/O G. Halcro was hit by flak, not serious.