Squadron Operations: Summary Information

Overview

Listed below is the information available for operations to this target flown by 550 Squadron.

Operation Summary: The column headers should be fairly self-explanatory. The term "aborted" as used here covers a number of possibilities:

• the operation was cancelled before crews were briefed
• the crews have been briefed as to the target, and in some cases the planes may even have been bombed up and the crews on-board at their stations awaiting take-off, before the op has been stood-down
• finally a number of cases where the op was already under way and the planes en-route but for whatever reason the operation was aborted (e.g. the master bomber orders the attack cancelled due to weather conditions at target adversely affecting targeting).

Aircraft Deployed: When a link to a particular aircraft is given, this indicates aircraft known to have taken part in this raid (in the records currently available to the web-site author). A record of whether the aircraft returned or failed to return (FTR) is also logged.

Servicemen Deployed: Names of the crew in the operation.

Station Summary: This section is the information from the RAF North Killingholme Station Record Book for the operational date (if available).

Definitions of the abbreviations used are available: here.

Manageable Lists

The amount of data in the database is growing and this is resulting in the "all operations/targets" list getting rapidly bigger and thus slower to generate. There are options to display shorter, more quickly generated, reports if you want to home in on something specific. For example, there are options to generate reports on operations to a single target, or by single aircraft (to all targets) or by single aircraft to a single target. There is, on the database-reports summary page, a short user guide (PDF format) on how to do this.

Operation/Target: Duisburg (21 May 1944 - 22 May 1944)

Operation Summary
Target	Out	Back	Aborted (Y / N)	Comments
Duisburg	21 May 1944	22 May 1944	N	Eighteen aircraft and crews offered for operations and all were accepted and briefed to attach targets in DUISBURG, the steel and coal centre of the Ruhr and Rhine, which has not had the attention of Bomber Command for about twelve months. The weather over the target was cloudy and called for blind bombing by a method which has already paid good dividends in "Happy Valley". Photographs as was to be expected yielded no joy and cannot profitably be commented upon, all showing thick cloud and in some instances fine tracks. Although there were several sightings of the enemy the general impressions of DUISBURG defences confirms the view that they were less active than a year ago. P/O Dukelow, F/S Hinde and Sgt Essex with their crews failed to return to Base. [Ed: but can only find 17 aircraft listed in the battle-order (after multiple cross-checking of the ORB) of which 3 aircraft and crews FTR.]

Aircraft Deployed			Servicemen Deployed
Aircraft Service Number	Returned or FTR	Comments	Crew Details
LM319	FTR	Missing	Sgt K A Essex (P) Sgt A W McWhirter (F/Eng) F/Sgt F J W Smith (Nav) F/Sgt R E Porter (A/B) Sgt A Symonds (W/Op) Sgt P L McIver (MU/AG) Sgt R E Muffett (R/AG)

Summary Statistics

Based on the data in the lists displayed above, and keeping in mind that data is still being updated and thus not yet complete, the following statistics are generated:

Aircraft Deployment Statistics

Aircraft deployments	1
MAX Aircraft deployed in single operation	1 (Duisburg, 21 May 1944)

These details were last updated: 21 November 2024

Note

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