Operation Carthage

Operation Carthage, on 21 March 1945, was a controversial British air raid on Copenhagen, Denmark, during World War II. The target of the raid was the Shellhus, Gestapo headquarters, in the city centre, a building that had been used for the storage of dossiers and the torture of Danish citizens. A similar raid against Gestapo head quarters in Aarhus October 31, 1944, had been successful.

Background
The raid was requested by members of the Danish resistance movement in the hope of freeing imprisoned members and destroying records of the Gestapo. The R.A.F. initially turned down the request as too risky, due to the location in a crowded city core and the need for low-level bombing, but the raid was approved in early 1945 after repeated requests.

Once approval had been given, its planning took several weeks. This included producing scale models of the target building, and the surrounding city itself, in preparation for a very low-level attack.

Raid
The attacking force consisted of Royal Air Force de Havilland Mosquito F.B.VI fast bombers of No. 21 Squadron RAF, No. 464 Squadron RAAF, and No. 487 Squadron RNZAF, from the No. 140 Wing RAF. These were organised in three waves of six aircraft with two RAF reconnaissance Mosquito B.IVs to record the effects of the attack. Thirty RAF P-51 Mustang fighters gave air cover from German aircraft, and these also attacked antiaircraft guns during the raid.

The force left RAF Fersfield in the morning and it reached Copenhagen after 1100 hours. The raid was carried out at rooftop level. In the course of the initial attack, a Mosquito hit a lamp post, damaging its wing, and the plane crashed into the Jeanne d'Arc School, about 1.5 km from the target. Several bombers in the second and third wave attacked the burning school, thinking it was their target, and as a result 86 schoolchildren died in the school, along with 18 adults, including many nuns.



Results
On the following day, a reconnaissance plane surveyed the target to assess the results. The damage was heavy, with the west wing of the six-story building reduced to nearly ground level. The Danish underground supplied a photograph showing the building burning from end to end.

The raid had succeeded in destroying Gestapo headquarters and severely disrupting Gestapo operations in Denmark, as well as allowing the escape of 18 prisoners of the Gestapo. Fifty-five German soldiers, 47 of the Danish employees of the Gestapo, and eight prisoners died in the headquarters itself. Four Mosquito bombers and two Mustang fighters were lost, and nine airmen died on the Allied side.