February 1944

20^th

William Uyen is on Leave

598 aircraft - 460 Lancasters, 126 Halifaxes, 12 Mosquitos - to Stuttgart. The North Sea sweep and the Munich diversion successfully drew the German fighters up 2 hours before the main bomber force flew inland and only 9 aircraft - 7 Lancasters and 2 Halifaxes - were lost, 1.5 per cent of the force. 4 further Lancasters and 1 Halifax crashed in England.
156 aircraft - 132 from training units and 24 from squadrons - flew a large training exercise across the North Sea as a preliminary feint; 24 Mosquitos attacked airfields in Holland; 7 Mosquitos made a diversionary raid on Munich and there were 7 Serrate patrols. No aircraft lost.
28 Stirlings and 6 Wellingtons laid mines off French ports. 1 Wellington lost.

Squadron 78

16 aircraft detailed for operations, Target Stuttgart.
February 20 1944 10 aircraft reached and attacked the target.
3 aircraft did not take off.

Ground crew prepared the LV815, …., LV814, MV788, LV589,
LV794, HX241, LW520, LW507, LW510, LW517, LK762 and the LV813 for take of to Stuttgart.

February 1944, 20^th

Returned early

LV815

returned early due engine problems between Cambridge and Norwich. Furthest point reached at 52.39N/00.58E
Bombs jettisoned safe over sea on there return flight.

Returned early

LW510

returned early owing to port Inner engine being unserviceable due engine problems over the North Sea
Furthest point reached at 50.20N/01.00E
(LW510 crashed on the raid of March 24)

Lost in Action

LV814 EY-C

Lost in Action

LV813

On this day, February 20, 1944 my family in Nijmegen, Holland lost one of there children in this terrible war by a terrible mistake.

Gerard Bakker

As for his sister Mara Bakker

Gerard lived at the Broerdijk 107, Nijmegen, Holland.
Our family consisted of father and mother and two sisters. Gerard was the oldest of the children.
His school was at at the Hertogstraat, because the German progressed the school at the Koolemans Beynestraat.
.
Every morning, Carel Zwarts picked up my brother. Gerard grabbed his breakfist, kissed my mother and went to school.
On that terrible February 22 it was something else. He had reseaved a dime for the tram, gave mom a kiss and left. He was already out of the garden gate when he suddenly came back again to give mother a kiss. That's what my mother always remembered.
The incredible noise of the bombardment I will never forget. We were terrified to Gerard, who, unlike his cousin Albert Cox and several other children, still was not home.

My mother brought my sister to the neighbor and together we went to town to find Gerard.
At the “wedren”, we were sent back and eventually we reached in one way or another the Wilhelmina Hospital. I was not allowed inside. I remember that my mother was deathly pale came out.
Everywhere she had seen dead and moaning seriously injured. Against so much misery, she was no match. The brother of my mother whent to pick up my father from his work at Alewijnse and together they continued the search.
In the Wilhelmina Hospital, everyone was in and out, looking for missing relatives. There, my father found Gerard, among many other deaths. My father was devastated by grief. He has removed Gerard among the dead and separately laid apart

Later we heard that manny boys had missed the tram and that they walked to the next stop on the Kelfkensbos were they were hit by a cluster bomb.
It must have been horrible, so many dead and wounded in one place.
Henk van Kleef, who was seriously injured, but survived, said my brother told him that "he was so terribly cold." Those were his last words.
Beside my brother Gerard also his close friend Carel Zwarts and their fellow students Willy Becks, Daantje van Halen , Tonnie van Megen, Henkie Putz and Antoon and Henkie Schreven died at the Kelfensbos.
They were burried from the Christuskoning Church in the cemetery at the Daalseweg in one grave .

February 1944

21^st

No operations or standby for squadron 78.

22^nd

15 aircraft detailed for operations in the late evening,
Weather: Showers were frequent throughout the day, accompanied by thick heavy clouds, which reduced visibility to moderate.
but as the weather failed to clear up, the operation was later cancelled.

23^th

No operations or standby for squadron 78.