23rd December 1944 – RAF Bomber Command daylight raid on Cologne
Header image: Lancasters in formation in daylight. These are actually 50 Sqn Lancasters which were not involved in the daylight raid against Cologne on 23rd December 1944, but this picture shows how it would have looked for the crews of the 582 and 35 Sqn Lancasters that took part.
Eighty years ago, on Saturday 23rd December 1944, a vital daylight bombing raid against rail yards in the German city of Cologne (Köln) proved very costly for RAF Bomber Command and meant that many of the crews were not going to see Christmas.
