He flew with a Handley Page Halifax (type -, serial MZ465, code MH-Y).
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force):: 2 missions are flown.
Mission 792: 911 bombers and 860 fighters are dispatched to attack oil refineries and plants in C Germany and highway bridges at Cologne; clear skies allow all bombers to bomb visually; about 250 Luftwaffe fighters attack and the AAF claims 158-0-30 aircraft; 7 bombers and 11 fighters are lost:
1. 370 B-17s are sent to hit oil targets at Derben (186) and Magdeburg (90); 36 hit Hallendorf, the secondary target; targets of opportunity hit are the Osnabruck marshalling yard (8) and other (19); they claim 31-9-7 aircraft; 6 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 121 damaged; 4 airmen are WIA and 149 MIA.
Escorting are 295 of 331 P-51s; they claim 89.
5-0-14 aircraft in the air and 3-0-5 on the ground; 5 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 3 damaged beyond repair.
2. 348 B-24s are dispatched to hit oil targets at Hallendorf (145), Hemmingstedt (91) and Ehmen (89); 1 hits Wangerooge Island, a target of opportunity; 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 80 damaged; 8 airmen are KIA and 1 WIA.
The escort is 261 of 295 P-51s; they claim 14.
5-0-0 aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair.
3. 187 B-17s are sent to hit highway bridges at Cologne, the Deutz Bridge (71), the Hohenzollern Bridge (67) and the Rodenkirchen Bridge (36); targets of opportunity are Berg (1) and Cologne (1); 1 B-17 is lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 92 damaged; 4 airmen are WIA and 10 MIA.
Escort is provided by 40 of 42 P-51s; they claim 9-0-5 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 pilot is WIA.
4. 6 of 6 B-17s fly a screening mission without loss.
5. 116 P-47s and P-51s fly a sweep over N Germany and claim 42-0-6 aircraft; 2 P-47s and 1 P-51 are lost (pilots MIA); 1 P-47 is damaged beyond repair.
6. 30 of 32 P-51s fly a scouting missions without loss.
7. 19 of 22 P-51s escort 12 F-5s and 4 Spitfires on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany.
Mission 793: 2 B-17s and 5 B-24s drop leaflets over SE Belgium and Germany during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): 280+ A-20s and B-26s strike bridges and communications centers in the base area of the Ardennes salient and in other areas of W Germany.
Fighters escort 9th Bombardment Division and Eighth AF bombers, fly armed reconnaissance and patrols, attack numerous ground targets, and support the US First Army in the Vielsalm, Belgium area and the US Third Army around Diekirch, Luxembourg.
Saarbrücken: 274 aircraft - 242 Halifaxes, 20 Lancasters, 12 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups. 1 Halifax crashed in France. Bomber Command assessed this raid, on the railway yards, as being extremely accurate and effective.
Politz: 218 Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked this oil plant, near Stettin. 2 Lancasters lost. This raid had been planned as a blind-bombing attack but, because the weather conditions were better than forecast, low-level marking was carried out and very accurate bombing followed. Bomber Command, on the basis of photographic reconnaissance, states that the oil plant was 'reduced to a shambles'.
19 RCM sorties, 22 Mosquito patrols, 10 Lancasters minelaying off Swinemünde. 1 Mosquito of l00 Group lost.
Total effort for the night: 550 sorties, 4 aircraft (O.7 per cent) lost.
134 Lancasters of No 3 Group attacked the railway yards at Saarbrücken in clear visibility and without loss.
573 Lancasters and 14 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 5. 6 and 8 Groups carried out two attacks, 3 hours apart, on the synthetic oil plant at Leuna. The attacks caused severe damage throughout the plant. Albert Speer, in his post-war interrogations, stated that this was one of a group of most damaging raids on the synthetic-oil industry carried out during this period. 10 Lancasters lost.
151 aircraft - 136 Halifaxes, 12 Mosquitos, 3 Lancasters - of Nos 6 and 8 Groups attacked the railway yards at Grevenbroich. The raid was successful and no aircraft were lost.
115 aircraft - 100 Halifaxes, 12 Mosquitos, 3 Lancasters - of Nos 4 and 8 Groups attempted to bomb a Luftwaffe fuel-storage depot at Dülmen, near Münster, but most of the bombing fell in open country south and south-east of the target. Only slight damage was caused to the fuel dump. 1 Halifax lost.
Support and 126 training aircraft on a diversionary sweep over the North Sea, 83 Mosquitos to Berlin and 9 to Mannheim, 58 RCM sorties, 54 Mosquito patrols, 21 Halifaxes and 10 Lancasters minelaying off Oslo and in the Kattegat. 1 Lancaster from the diversionary sweep and 1 Mosquito of No 100 Group were lost; 3 Mosquitos from the Berlin raid crashed in Belgium and 1 RCM Liberator crashed in Holland. A further 7 aircraft from the sweep and 5 Mosquitos from the Berlin raid crashed in England because of bad weather.
Total effort for the night: 1,214 sorties, 17 aircraft (1.4 per cent) lost and 14 aircraft crashed in England.
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