Overnight, Royal Air Force launched "Operation Millennium": over 1000 bombers have attacked Cologne, in the largest single air raid of the war so far.

One of the 1047 RAF bombers over Cologne photographs the raid: German searchlights & anti-aircraft fire light up the sky as first bombs fall (in lower left).

1500+ tons of high explosive have hit Cologne during the British air-raid, killing 469 people & devastating 600 acres of the city. Watch newsreel:

Head of RAF Bomber Command Arthur Harris demanded a 1000-plane raid on Cologne, hoping to break German morale & support his department's prestige- Allies have been debating ending inaccurate mass bombing.

Harris scrounged together trainee pilots & flying instructors to crew his "1000 bomber raid" on Cologne- relatively minor damage to German war effort, but a British propaganda triumph.