Royal Air Force Daylight Raids, 1940–1944
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Royal Air Force Daylight Raids, 1940–1944
A strategic bombing campaign was waged by RAF Bomber Command against Nazi Germany and other Axis powers in Europe during the Second World War. Relatively few of these were daylight operations and the vast majority of these sorties were flown at night. After suffering heavy losses attempting daylight bombing raids over the Heligoland islands in the North Sea and over France during the first half of 1940, Bomber Command had largely withdrawn its aircraft from daylight attacks. Bomber Command, however, was still willing to risk aircraft to attack targets in daylight on occasion. These were usually targets that required highly precise delivery of bombs, such as warships or small factories. Industries located in occupied territories were another group of targets that required a high degree of accuracy when attacked to avoid casualties among the civilians of the occupied country. In addition, after winning the Battle of Britain, Fighter Command went over onto the offensive. Fighter Comm ...
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Strategic Bombing
Strategic bombing is a systematically organized and executed military attack from the air which can utilize strategic bombers, long- or medium-range missiles, or nuclear-armed fighter-bomber aircraft to attack targets deemed vital to the enemy's war-making capability. It is a military strategy used in total war with the goal of defeating the enemy by destroying its morale, its economic ability to produce and transport materiel to the Theater (warfare)#Theater of operations, theatres of military operations, or both. The term terror bombing is used to describe the strategic bombing of civilian targets without military value, in the hope of damaging an enemy's morale. One of the strategies of war is to demoralization (warfare), demoralize the enemy so that peace or surrender becomes preferable to continuing the conflict. Strategic bombing has been used to this end. The phrase "terror bombing" entered the English lexicon towards the end of World War II and many strategic bombing cam ...
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U-boat
U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the German term refers to any submarine. Austro-Hungarian Navy submarines were also known as U-boats. U-boats are most known for their unrestricted submarine warfare in both world wars, trying to Commerce raiding, disrupt merchant traffic towards the UK and force the UK out of the war. In World War I, Germany intermittently waged unrestricted submarine warfare against the United Kingdom, UK: a first campaign in 1915 was abandoned after strong protests from the US but in 1917 the Germans, facing deadlock on the continent, saw no other option than to resume the campaign in February 1917. The renewed campaign failed to achieve its goal mainly because of the introduction of Convoys in World War I, convoys. Instead the campaign ensured final defeat ...
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Operation Jericho
Operation Jericho (Ramrod 564) took place on 18 February 1944 during the Second World War. Allied aircraft bombed Amiens Prison in German-occupied France at very low altitude to blow holes in the prison walls, kill German guards and use shock waves to spring open cell doors. The French Resistance was waiting on the outside to rescue prisoners and spirit them away. Mosquito fighter-bombers breached the walls, prison buildings and destroyed the guards' barracks. Of the 832 prisoners, 102 were killed by the bombing, 74 were wounded and 258 escaped, including 79 Resistance members and political prisoners; two-thirds of the escapees were recaptured. Two Mosquitos and a Typhoon fighter escort were shot down and another Typhoon was lost at sea. The raid is notable for the precision and daring of the attack, which was filmed by a camera on one of the Mosquitos. There is debate as to who requested the attack and whether it was necessary. Background French resistance During 1943 A ...
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IJmuiden
n IJ (digraph) and that should remain the only places where they are used. > IJmuiden () is a port town in the Netherlands, Dutch province of North Holland. It is the main town in the municipality of Velsen which lies mainly to the south-east. Including its large sea locks, it straddles the mouth of the North Sea Canal to Amsterdam. To the south it abuts a large reserve of plant-covered dunes, the Zuid-Kennemerland National Park. The town is on the south bank; the north bank is otherwise a steel plant and Velsen-Noord. It is north northwest of Haarlem which is due west of Amsterdam. The port is a deepwater port suited to fully laden Panamax ships, and the fourth port of the Netherlands. The internal capitalization within IJmuiden is as IJ is a digraph in modern Dutch with an exceptional spelling convention. Also, in some typefaces, ''IJ'' is recognised as a ligature and is placed in one typed or handwritten space. History In the Roman era, the district was al ...
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Operation Ramrod 16
Ramrod 16 was an attempt by the Royal Air Force (RAF) to bomb the Koninklijke Hoogovens (Royal Blast Furnaces) steelworks at IJmuiden in the Netherlands during the Second World War. After several recent abortive attacks a more elaborate plan was made for six Douglas Boston, Douglas Boston IIIA light bombers of No. 107 Squadron RAF, 107 Squadron to attack again, with a Glossary of RAF code names, Ramrod as a diversion. (Ramrod was the RAF term for bomber operations intended to induce fighters into action for British fighter escorts to attack.) Ramrod 16 was to be flown by twelve Lockheed Ventura, Lockheed Ventura Mk II bombers of No. 487 Squadron RNZAF against the Hemweg power station in Amsterdam, not far upriver from IJmuiden. Thirteen Supermarine Spitfire, Spitfire Squadron (aviation), squadrons from No. 11 Group RAF, 11 Group, RAF Fighter Command, Fighter Command, were to fly Rodeo 212 to Vlissingen (Flushing), to the south-west of Amsterdam, as another diversion. The Ventura ...
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Eindhoven
Eindhoven ( ; ) is a city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also located in the Dutch part of the natural region the Campine. With a population of 246,443 (1 January 2024) on a territory of 88.92 km2,Statistieken gemeente Eindhoven
AlleCijfers.nl
it is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fifth-largest city of the Netherlands and the largest outside the Randstad conurbation. Eindhoven was originally located at the confluence of the Dommel and the Gender (stream), Gender. A municipality since the 13th century, Eindhoven witnessed rapid growth starting in the 1900s by textile and tobacco industries. Two well-known companies, DA ...
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Philips
Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters is still in Eindhoven. The company gained its royal honorary title in 1998. Philips was founded by Gerard Philips and his father Frederik, with their first products being light bulbs. Through the 20th century, it grew into one of the world's largest electronics conglomerates, with global market dominance in products ranging from kitchen appliances and electric shavers to light bulbs, televisions, cassettes, and compact discs (both of which were invented by Philips). At one point, it played a dominant role in the entertainment industry (through PolyGram). However, intense competition from primarily East Asian competitors throughout the 1990s and 2000s led to a period of downsizing, including the divestment of its lighting and c ...
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Operation Oyster
Operation Oyster was a bombing raid made by the Royal Air Force (RAF) on 6 December 1942 upon the Philips works at Eindhoven, Netherlands. The Philips company was a major producer of electronics equipment, including vacuum tubes for radio communication. Prior to the Battle of the Netherlands in 1940, Philips was known to be a leading research firm in infrared and radar technology. To ensure accuracy and minimise casualties among the Dutch citizens, the raid had to be undertaken during the day. Eindhoven was beyond the range of the fighter escort and the four-engined night bombers that made up the bulk of RAF Bomber Command were considered to be too vulnerable for the attack. No. 2 Group RAF which contained the medium day bombers of the RAF were selected for the raid. To improve their chance of survival, diversionary raids were organised to mislead the German defenders. Almost all of 2 Group was committed to the raid and it was the largest and most successful operation by the gr ...
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Le Creusot
Le Creusot () is a Communes of France, commune and industrial town in the Saône-et-Loire Departments of France, department, Regions of France, region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, eastern France. The inhabitants are known as Creusotins. Formerly a mining town, its economy is now dominated by metallurgical companies such as ArcelorMittal, Schneider Electric, and Alstom. Since the 1990s, the town has been developing its tourism credentials. Its main attraction is the Parc des Combes. The Creusot steam hammer is exposed as a tourist attraction in a square at the entrance to the town from the south. Le Creusot is also the second educational centre of the Bourgogne (after Dijon), with its Institut universitaire de technologie, IUT and the Condorcet university centre. History In 1836, iron ore mines and forges around Le Creusot were bought by Adolphe Schneider and his brother Eugène Schneider, Eugène. They developed a business in steel, railways, armaments, and shipbuilding. The S ...
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Schneider-Creusot
Schneider et Compagnie, also known as Schneider-Creusot for its birthplace in the French town of Le Creusot, was a historic iron and steel-mill company which became a major arms manufacturer. In the 1960s, it was taken over by the Belgian Empain group and merged with it in 1969 to form Empain-Schneider, which in 1980 was renamed Schneider SA and in 1999, after much restructuring, Schneider Electric. Origins In 1836, Adolphe Schneider and his brother Eugène Schneider bought iron-ore mines and forges at Le Creusot (Saône-et-Loire). They developed a business dealing in steel, railways, armaments, and shipbuilding. The Creusot steam hammer was built in 1877. Somua, a subsidiary located near Paris, made machinery and vehicles, including the SOMUA S35 tank. Armaments Vehicles *Schneider CA1, the first French tank *Schneider-Creusot 030-T steam locomotive * Schneider Coast Defense Train Ships * Ferré-class submarine, a pair of long submarines in service with the P ...
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Operation Robinson
The Royal Air Force, RAF bombing raid against the Schneider-Creusot, Schneider Works at Le Creusot, known as Operation Robinson, was undertaken during the daylight hours of 17 October 1942. The mission was assigned to No. 5 Group RAF, No. 5 Group, which had converted to the new Avro Lancaster. The Lancaster's large lift capacity and high speed gave reason for optimism that the raid might succeed. Background The Schneider-Creusot, Schneider Works was a French plant that produced steel, Track (rail transport), rails, locomotives, artillery and other armaments. It was largely viewed as the French equivalent of Germany's Krupp Works, and was located in Le Creusot in south central France. To reach it would require flying 300 miles over occupied territory. Bomber Command had withdrawn its aircraft from daylight attacks after suffering heavy losses attempting daylight bombing raids over the Heligoland, Heligoland islands in the North Sea and over France during the first half of 1940. S ...
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Oslo
Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022, and the metropolitan area had an estimated population of in 2021. During the Viking Age, the area was part of Viken. Oslo was founded as a city at the end of the Viking Age in 1040 under the name Ánslo, and established as a ''kaupstad'' or trading place in 1048 by Harald Hardrada. The city was elevated to a bishopric in 1070 and a capital under Haakon V of Norway around the year 1300. Personal unions with Denmark from 1397 to 1523 and again from 1536 to 1814 reduced its influence. After being destroyed by a fire in 1624, during the reign of King Christian IV, a new city was built closer to Akershus Fortress and named Christiania in honour of the king. It became a municipality ('' formannskapsdistrikt'') on 1 January 1838. ...
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