Jacko, the final loss you mention was indeed Lennox/Weeks who were lost during the recovery from a loft attack
As to the only 233 loss, after weapon release as the ac exited the target area, there have been tales of this crew being engaged in manual TF at the time. A software 'feature' which became apparent after some aircraft released their weapons, was a loss of IN feed to the main computer/TF computer. This, until then unknown, software feature certainly came as a f***ing shock to me on night 1!!!
Finally, I would certainly agree with your 4th paragraph - of the 2 LL attacks, staying low & fast is better in my opinion than hauling a very heavy ac in a challanging 3d dynanmic manoeuvre. The loft attack becomes even more challanging if you are being shot at (ignore it and fly the instruments - yeah, right) and are flying it heavier than peace-time practice (8x1000lb + 6T gas), especially if the stores fail to release (Peters/Nichol) when you could find yourself high & slow on speed.