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Did you know that following a raid on Berlin on the night of 16 / 17th December 1943 (to become know as 'Black Thursday') the official communiqué stated that 24 of our aircraft failed to return?

Further to that, however, because of severe weather and fog, 32 aircraft crashed over England with 127 killed and 34 injured. These were by far the worst bad weather casualties sustained throughout the war and brought the overall total for the night, in grim reality, to 294 killed and 14 prisoners of war.

Did you know that for any given 100 aircrew in Bomber Command, 1939-1945 the daunting breakdown was:

Killed in operations -------------51

Killed in crashes ------------------9

Seriously injured ------------------3

Prisoners of War------------------12

Evaded capture--------------------1

Survived unharmed--------------24

-------------------------------------100

During the Battle of Britain 537 Fighter pilots were killed.

A total of 545 aircrew of Bomber Command were killed on one raid at Nuremburg on 31st March 1944.

Almost one third of Britain's War Effort went into Bomber Command.

This story was submitted to the People’s War site by Becky Barugh of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Shropshire CSV Action Desk on behalf of Des Evans and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.

See more of Des’s stories:

• Bale out!
• Missions from Woodhall Spa
• Tracers coming through the thatch
• I didn’t quite get the chop
• Little humour in adversity
• Ted Porters Crew
• The ‘Augsburg Raid’
• S/L Sherwood’s recommendation for the Victoria Cross
• The worst night of the War…
• The worst night of the War (Part 2)
• The worst night of the War (Part 3) - Crew
• The worst night of the War (Part 4) - Losses
• The worst night of the War (Part 5) — Extract from ‘the Berlin’ Raids’
• The worst night of the War (Part 6) — Bombers over Berlin
• The worst night of the War (Part 7) — Combat Report
• A Dedication to Skipper Wing Commander Ted Porter - Pause for Thought
• A Dedication to Skipper Wing Commander Ted Porter — A Navigators View of the Route to Heaven
• Flight Operations carried out with Sgt. D.C Plaunt
• Flight Operations carried out by Sgt. J.J Johnson
• The experiences of ‘Taffy’ after baling out on 9th — 10th June 1944
• The experiences of ‘Taffy’ after baling out on the 9th - 10th June 1944 - Continued
• The experiences of ‘Taffy’ - 11th June 1944
• The experiences of ‘Taffy’ - 12th — 15th June 1944
• The experiences of ‘Taffy’ - 16th - 18th June 1944
• The experiences of ‘Taffy’ - 19th — 23rd June 1944
• The experiences of ‘Taffy’ — 24th August 1044
• ‘Our Heroes’

For further stories read ‘ACHIEVE YOUR AIM’ by Kevin Bending

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