Wild Boars and Flak over Cologne

3rd July 1943: A newly arrived Lancaster bomber pilot makes his debut operational flight over Germany

Dusk take-off. A Lancaster silhouetted against the evening sky as it begins to climb and head for Germany.

Lancaster bomber dwarfed by the starboard inner engine of another Lancaster, as they fly to attack enemy targets

Part of a vertical photographic-reconnaissance aerial taken over Cologne, Germany, several days after the heavy raids by aircraft of Bomber Command on the nights of 28/29 June and 3/4 July 1943, showing extensive damage to the Nippes railway workshops.

On July 1943 Bomber Command returned to Cologne, aiming for the industrial centre on the east bank of the Rhine. It was a major raid with 653 aircraft taking part, the target marking was good and the bombs of the Main Force were concentrated. On the ground 588 people were killed, around 1,000 injured and an estimated 72,000 made homeless.