Episode 148 – Operation Millennium

Guest: David Duxbury Hosts: Dave Homewood Recorded: 27th of May 2017 Released:  30th of May 2017 Duration: 31  minutes 1 second In a special and rather impromptu episode the Wings Over New Zealand Show marks 75 years to the day since the first “1000 Bomber Raid” was mounted by the Royal Air Force. The target was the city of Cologne in Germany, and the RAF went all out to put together more than a thousand bombers to hit the one city in what was to be both a devastating and unexpected surprise for the Germans as such a tactic had never been conceived before; and also a bit propaganda coup for the British and Allies. Aircraft  taking part came from all the operational Bomber Command squadrons able to participate, plus squadrons of RAF Coastal Command and RAF Training Command, including crews not used to night operations over enemy territory, and aircraft that were well past their best condition. In this short special episode Dave Homewood is joined by eminent RNZAF historian David Duxbury to discuss the Cologne raid and to highlight a few stories from New Zealanders who took part. Official British war art imagining a bombing raid on Cologne. The city’s cathedral is clearly visible. It survived the war, despite being hit dozens of times by Allied bombs. NF 3/1603 This image is from the collections of The National Archive