At 19:29 the last of the RAF bombers takes off. Delayed by an electrical problem in their usual Halifax J-Jig pilot Flight Sergeant Roy Crockett and crewof 640 squadron had to switch to the spare Halifax S-Sugar LW650. The switch delays them by 20 minutes and they are the last of the bombers to take off. This would not be last of the bad luck they would get on this operation.
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22nd March 1944
For most people Wednesday the 22nd of March 1944 has no particular significance; for others it brought life changing events.
It is 1664 days since the invasion of Poland and the world is gripped by war. In Italy, Mount Vesuvius is erupting and the 3rd battle of Monte Cassino is in progress. In just three days Germany has occupied Hungary and installed a new government. In the Battle of the Kamenets-Podolsky Pocket in north-western Ukraine, Russian tanks break through the lines of the German 1st Panzer Army.
Along India's border with Burma the British and Japanese forces clash in the Battle of Imphal.
In the Atlantic the "wolf pack" era ends as Admiral Dönitz orders the U-boats to hunt as lone wolves.
In the European air war the British night time bombing campaign on Berlin is drawing to a close. For the seventh day in a row bad weather prevents RAF bombers targeting Berlin and instead Frankfurt am Main is the main target.