He flew with a Handley Page Halifax (type V, serial LL130, code KN-T).
(Eighth Air Force): Mission 277: The B-17 primary target is Schweinfurt, Germany; the B-24 primary target are airfields at Metz and Nancy, France; the bombers make no claims of Luftwaffe aircraft: 1.
230 B-17s are dispatched; 60 hit Schweinfurt using blind-bombing equipment and 162 hit Frankfurt/Main marshalling yard; 3 B-17s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 68 damaged; casualties are 14 KIA, 1 WIA and 30 MIA.
2. 206 B-24s are dispatched; the primaries are overcast and 148 hit the secondary target of St Diziere Airfield and 33 hit Nancy/Essey Airfield; 24 B-24s are damaged; casualties are 3 WIA.
Escort is provided by 84 P-38s, 301 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 155 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; details are: P-38s: 2 lost, both pilots MIA.
P-47s claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 2-0-4 on the ground; no losses.
P-51s: no claims; 3 P-51s are lost; 2 pilots are MIA.
Mission 278: 5 of 5 B-17s drop 250 bundles of leaflets on Tours and Lorient, France; and Charleroi, Brussels and Antwerp, Belgium at 2133-2210 hours without loss.
143 aircraft - 83 Halifaxes, 48 Stirlings, 12 Mosquitos - of Nos 3,4,6 and 8 Groups to Laon. 2 Halifaxes lost. The weather in the target area was clear but the Master Bomber ordered the attack to be stopped after 72 aircraft had bombed. The local report states that about half of the bombs hit the railway yards but the remainder were scattered in an area up to 3 km from the target. The bombing did cut the through lines but these were repaired the following day. 83 houses around the station were hit but only 7 civilians were killed and 9 injured because most of the people who lived near the station moved to other parts of Laon at night.
20 Lancasters of No 5 Group, including No 617 Squadron, bombed an aero-engine factory near Lyons without loss.
13 Mosquitos to Dortmund and 2 to Oberhausen, 5 RCM sorties, 4 Serrate patrols, 2 Stirlings minelaying off Brittany, 6 OTU sorties. No losses.
811 aircraft - 577 Lancasters, 216 Halifaxes, 18 Mosquitos - to Berlin. 72 aircraft - 44 Lancasters, 28 Halifaxes - lost, 8.9 per cent of the force.
This night became known in Bomber Command as 'the night of the strong winds'. A powerful wind from the north carried the bombers south at every stage of the flight. Not only was this wind not forecast accurately but it was so strong that the various methods available to warn crews of wind changes during the flight failed to detect the full strength of it. The bomber stream became very scattered, particularly on the homeward flight and radar-predicted flak batteries at many places were able to score successes. Part of the bomber force even strayed over the Ruhr defences on the return flight. It is believed that approximately 50 of the 72 aircraft lost were destroyed by flak; most of the remainder were victims of night fighters. Needless to say, the strong winds severely affected the marking with, unusually, markers being carried beyond the target and well out to the south-west of the city.
This was the last major RAF raid on Berlin during the war, although the city would be bombed many times by small forces of Mosquitos.
147 aircraft from training units carried out a diversionary sweep west of Paris; 27 Mosquitos bombed night-fighter airfields and 15 Mosquitos bombed Duisburg, Kiel and Münster; aircraft of No 100 Group flew 4 RCM sorties and 10 Serrate patrols. 1 Serrate Mosquito lost.
9 aircraft dropped supplies to the Resistance without loss.
Total effort for the night: 1,023 sorties, 73 aircraft (7.1 per cent) lost.
This record can also be found on the maps of WW2 History Europe with Google coordinates. You can find the maps by clicking on this link on this location.
There are several possibilities to investigate the flight records on WW2 History Europe. All the flights are plotted on maps, sorted "day by day", "by squadron", "by type aircraft", "by year or month", "by location" and much more! Don't miss this!!!
If you have any information that you want to share, please add your comment at the bottom of this record. Or send your information to [email protected]. This information will be added to the record.
Your photos and your information are very welcome! The young do care and with your help we keep up the good work.
