He flew with a Handley Page Halifax (type III, serial HX235, code HD-D).
1 December 1943
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): VIII Bomber Command Mission 145: The industrial area at Solingen, Germany is the target. 206 of 215 B-17's, 69 of 78 B-24's and 5 of 6 B-17 PFF aircraft hit the target at 1159-1212 hours; they claim 4-5-5 Luftwaffe aircraft; 19 B-17's and 5 B-24's are lost, 2 B-17's and 1 B-24 are damaged beyond repair and 85 bombers are damaged; casualties are 13 KIA, 23 WIA and 227 MIA.
The mission is escorted by 42 P-38's and 374 P-47's; the P-47's claim 20-4-7 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 P-38's and 5 P-47's are lost, 1 each are damaged beyond repair and 3 P-47's are damaged; casualties are 7 MIA.
HQ VIII Air Support Command is disbanded at Sunninghill, England. HQ 448th Bombardment Group (Heavy) arrives at Seething, England from the US. The 362d, 363d and 364th Fighter Squadrons, 357th Fighter Group, arrive at Raydon, England from the US with P-51B's.
They will fly their first mission on 11 Feb 44. The 708th, 709th, 710th and 711th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy), 447th Bombardment Group (Heavy), arrive at Rattlesden, England from the US with B-17G's. They will fly their first mission on 24 Dec.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): 175+ B-26's bomb airfields at Chievres, Belgium; and Cambrai/Epinoy, Lille/Yendeville, and Cambrai/Niergnies, France. 28 P-51's execute a sweep over NW France, marking the first Ninth Air Force fighter operation from the UK. HQ IX Troop Carrier Command transfers from Cottesmore to Grantham, England.
1 December 1943
(AEAF): The Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) authorizes AEAF to attack "sky sites" in the Pas de Calais area and on the Cherbourg Peninsula in France, which RAF photography and British intelligence have virtually identified as missile-launching sites.
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): VIII Bomber Command Mission 146: 1 B-17 flies an Oboe test over Huls, Germany at 2139 hours dropping two 2,000 pound (907 kg) GP bombs and 1 photoflash bomb. 4 B-17's drop 2.09 million leaflets on Bremen, Oldenburg and Hamburg, Germany. No casualties on either mission.
Minelaying: 19 Stirlings and 12 Halifaxes were sent to the Frisians and to the east coast of Denmark. 2 Stirlings lost.
458 aircraft - 425 Lancasters, 18 Mosquitos, 15 Halifaxes - continued the Battle of Berlin. There were no major diversions and the bombers took an absolutely direct route across the North Sea and Holland and then on to Berlin. The Germans identified Berlin as the target 19 minutes before Zero Hour and many fighters were waiting there. Incorrectly forecast winds scattered the bomber stream, particularly on the return flight, and German fighters scored further victories here. A total of 40 bombers - 37 Lancasters, 2 Halifaxes, 1 Mosquito - were lost, 8.7 per cent of the force. 460 (Australian) Squadron lost 5 of its 25 Lancasters on this raid, including the aircraft in which two newspaper reporters were flying. These were Captain Grieg of the Daily Mail and Norman Stockton of the Sydney Sun. The inaccurate wind forecast caused great difficulties for the Pathfinders, who were not able to establish their positions correctly. The bombing photographs of the Main Force suggested that the attack was scattered over a wide area of southern Berlin and the countryside south of the city. The Berlin report confirms this but adds that some useful damage was caused in industrial areas of the eastern and western districts, with two more of the Siemens factories, a ball-bearing factory and several railway installations being badly hit. Damage elsewhere was light, only 136 buildings being destroyed.
6 Mosquitos to Bochum and 1 to Witten, 3 RCM sorties, 25 OTU sorties. 1 Mosquito lost from the Bochum raid.
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