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Operation Robinson
The RAF bombing raid against the 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, 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.
The Schneider Works was a French plant that produced steel, 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Bomber Command had withdrawn its aircraft from daylight attacks after suffering heavy losses attempting daylight bombing raids over the Heligoland islands in the North Sea and over France during the first half of 1940. Since that time Bomber Command operations against German industry were almost exclusively conducted under the cover of night. However, the German war effort was being supported by factories in the occupied countries as well. These targets presented a problem, as bombing them at night would necessarily result in significant casualties among civilians, whose desire to resist the occupiers was being cultivated by Britain. To strike at such targets, Bomber Command would have to attempt attacks in the clear light of day. They did so against selected targets throughout the course of the war. The Le Creusot raid was one such example.
A similar raid six months earlier against the MAN U-boat engine plant in Augsburg had not ended well. Bomber Command sent 12 Lancasters on a long run across France to attempt an accurate daylight strike against the plant. The RAF ran heavy fighter sweeps and bombing attacks on coastal targets to distract German defenses. Nevertheless, while crossing northern France the force was attacked by 20 Bf 109s and 4 of the Lancasters were shot down. Flak claimed 3 more over the target. Only 5 aircraft made it back from the raid, a 58% loss rate, and all those that did get back had suffered significant battle damage. As for the MAN plant, it continued to produce U-boat engines without apparent disruption. Daylight attacks against defended targets appeared to be no more practical in 1942 than they had been in 1940. It was hoped the high loss rate would not be repeated in the raid against the Schneider Works.
For Arthur Harris, Bomber Command's commander in chief, the Schneider plant was the highest priority target in France. To minimize loss of life to French civilians any attack on the plant would have to be made during the day. In his arsenal he had a new bomber in service that was now coming to the force in significant numbers. A four engine aircraft, the Avro Lancaster had excellent range, a tremendous lift capacity and was fast. It was hoped that this would be enough to tip the scales in favor of the bomber crews.
Flying a direct route was out of the question. German fighter bases were concentrated in northern France, Belgium and Germany, and with no fighter escort available after the first 200 miles German fighter aircraft would decimate the attackers. The plan formulated was to take advantage of the range of the Lancaster and send the force out over the ocean, bringing them in to the target from the west. The planes would fly at low level to avoid radar detection. The aircraft would leave in the afternoon, make their attack as light faded, and then fly a direct return under the cover of darkness. It was hoped that the new aircraft would be fast enough to avoid German defenses and would carry a large enough bomb load to cause significant damage to the target.
No. 5 Group RAF was the only Group that had completed the conversion to the Lancaster. Harris assigned the entire Group, all nine squadrons, to attack the target. In early October 1942 the Group began training for the attack flying in formation and at low level.
Bomber Command crews were trained to fly on their own at altitude in trail and during the night. The crews were unfamiliar with low level flying, and they did not perform formation flying. 5 Group began to practice, starting with low numbers of aircraft flying together at low altitude and slowly building up until the entire Group was flying together in loose formation. With this strange sort of flight training there was much debate among 5 Group crews as to what the target might be. The tension was heightened by several false alarms when the aircraft were fueled, armed with bombs and placed in readiness. These were potential go days, but each time the mission had been scrubbed due to projected poor weather over the target. Harris needed clear weather over Le Creusot to give his crews the best chance of hitting the plant while avoiding French civilian casualties.
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Operation Robinson AI simulator
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Operation Robinson
The RAF bombing raid against the 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, 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.
The Schneider Works was a French plant that produced steel, 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 islands in the North Sea and over France during the first half of 1940. Since that time Bomber Command operations against German industry were almost exclusively conducted under the cover of night. However, the German war effort was being supported by factories in the occupied countries as well. These targets presented a problem, as bombing them at night would necessarily result in significant casualties among civilians, whose desire to resist the occupiers was being cultivated by Britain. To strike at such targets, Bomber Command would have to attempt attacks in the clear light of day. They did so against selected targets throughout the course of the war. The Le Creusot raid was one such example.
A similar raid six months earlier against the MAN U-boat engine plant in Augsburg had not ended well. Bomber Command sent 12 Lancasters on a long run across France to attempt an accurate daylight strike against the plant. The RAF ran heavy fighter sweeps and bombing attacks on coastal targets to distract German defenses. Nevertheless, while crossing northern France the force was attacked by 20 Bf 109s and 4 of the Lancasters were shot down. Flak claimed 3 more over the target. Only 5 aircraft made it back from the raid, a 58% loss rate, and all those that did get back had suffered significant battle damage. As for the MAN plant, it continued to produce U-boat engines without apparent disruption. Daylight attacks against defended targets appeared to be no more practical in 1942 than they had been in 1940. It was hoped the high loss rate would not be repeated in the raid against the Schneider Works.
For Arthur Harris, Bomber Command's commander in chief, the Schneider plant was the highest priority target in France. To minimize loss of life to French civilians any attack on the plant would have to be made during the day. In his arsenal he had a new bomber in service that was now coming to the force in significant numbers. A four engine aircraft, the Avro Lancaster had excellent range, a tremendous lift capacity and was fast. It was hoped that this would be enough to tip the scales in favor of the bomber crews.
Flying a direct route was out of the question. German fighter bases were concentrated in northern France, Belgium and Germany, and with no fighter escort available after the first 200 miles German fighter aircraft would decimate the attackers. The plan formulated was to take advantage of the range of the Lancaster and send the force out over the ocean, bringing them in to the target from the west. The planes would fly at low level to avoid radar detection. The aircraft would leave in the afternoon, make their attack as light faded, and then fly a direct return under the cover of darkness. It was hoped that the new aircraft would be fast enough to avoid German defenses and would carry a large enough bomb load to cause significant damage to the target.
No. 5 Group RAF was the only Group that had completed the conversion to the Lancaster. Harris assigned the entire Group, all nine squadrons, to attack the target. In early October 1942 the Group began training for the attack flying in formation and at low level.
Bomber Command crews were trained to fly on their own at altitude in trail and during the night. The crews were unfamiliar with low level flying, and they did not perform formation flying. 5 Group began to practice, starting with low numbers of aircraft flying together at low altitude and slowly building up until the entire Group was flying together in loose formation. With this strange sort of flight training there was much debate among 5 Group crews as to what the target might be. The tension was heightened by several false alarms when the aircraft were fueled, armed with bombs and placed in readiness. These were potential go days, but each time the mission had been scrubbed due to projected poor weather over the target. Harris needed clear weather over Le Creusot to give his crews the best chance of hitting the plant while avoiding French civilian casualties.