He flew with a Handley Page Halifax (type III, serial LV874, code EY-P).
ICELAND (Iceland Base Command): HQ 24th Composite Wing is disbanded.
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): Mission 414: 1,361 bombers are dispatched in 8 forces to bomb an oil refinery Germany and numerous tactical targets in France, including 9 airfields, an aircraft plant, a CROSSBOW (V- weapon) sites, 11 bridges, a marshalling yard, and various scattered targets; 2 B-17s are lost: 1.
Of 747 B-17s dispatched, 172 hit the Hannover/Misburg oil refinery, 16 hit Wilster, 16 hit Wesermunde, 2 hit the Hannover area and 1 hits Helgoland Island, Germany; in France, 144 hit Bordeaux/Merignac Airfield, 71 hit Nantes railroad bridge N, 71 hit La Poissonniere rail viaduct, 70 hit Angouleme marshalling yard, 59 hit Beauvoir V-weapon site, 46 hit Nantes railroad bridge S, 12 hit Gael Airfield and 10 hit a viaduct N of Nantes; 2 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 267 damaged; 7 airmen are WIA and 18 MIA.
2. Of 614 B-24s dispatched to France, 89 hit Le Port Boulet railroad bridge, 61 hit Evreux/Fauville Airfield, 59 hit Tours-la-Frillerie, 54 hit Tours-La Rice railroad bridge, 46 hit Guyancourt Airfield, 45 hit Etampes/ Modesir Airfield, 44 hit Cinq Mars bridge, 27 hit St Cyr, 21 hit Buc Airfield, 12 hit Tours-La Riche highway bridge, 12 hit Le Mans Airfield, 12 hit Orleans/Saran Airfield and 8 hit targets of opportunity; 12 B-24s use Azon missiles against Etaples railroad bridge and 7 others use the missiles against the Pecrone railroad bridge.
Fighter operations are:
1. 96 P-38s, 202 P-47s and 211 P-51s escort the bombers and claim 5-0-5 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 P-38s and 1 P-51 are lost with the pilots MIA.
2. 36 of 48 P-47s bomb Etaples, France; 1 P-47s is lost (pilot is MIA).
3. 177 of 185 P-38s fly a fighter sweep in front of the bomber forces without loss.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): 550+ B-26s and A-20s direct main attacks against fuel and ammunition dumps, rail and highway communications, and armored division HQ S of the bridgehead on the Douve River; 1,400+ fighters fly armed reconnaissance in the Valognes-Cherbourg area, the W part of the Cherbourg Peninsula, and along communications lines S to Loire; fighters also attack shipping between the Channel Islands and the Cherbourg Peninsula.
337 aircraft - 223 Lancasters, 100 Halifaxes, 14 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 5 and 8 Groups attacked German troop and vehicle positions at Aunay-sur-Odon and Évrecy, near Caen. These raids were prepared and executed in great haste, in response to an army report giving details of the presence of major German units. The weather was clear and both targets were successfully bombed. The target at Aunay, where the marking was shared by Nos 5 and 8 Groups, was particularly accurate. No aircraft were lost.
330 aircraft - 61 Lancasters, 255 Halifaxes, 14 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups attacked railways at Cambrai, Douai and St Pol. All of the targets were either partially cloud-covered or affected by haze and the bombing was not completely concentrated or accurate. 3 Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster were lost, the Lancaster being the Master Bomber's aircraft at Douai.
35 Mosquitos to attack the Scholven/Buer oil plant. A short German report says that 3 bombs fell into the plant area and that 3 civilians outside the factory - a farmer, a lorry-driver and a housewife - were killed. No Mosquitos lost.
8 RCM sorties, 19 Serrate and 18 Intruder patrols, 12 Stirlings minelaying off French ports, 10 aircraft on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost.
Total effort for the night: 769 sorties, 4 aircraft (0.5 per cent) lost.
297 aircraft - 155 Lancasters, 130 Halifaxes, 12 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4, 5, 6 and 8 Groups carried out attacks on German light naval vessels now gathering in Boulogne harbour. The tactics employed and the bombing results were similar to those at Le Havre the previous evening, although the visibility was not so clear. 1 Halifax lost. The only details from France are in a short civil report which describes this as the Worst raid of the war on Boulogne, with great destruction in the port and the surrounding areas.
227 aircraft - 119 Lancasters, 99 Halifaxes, 9 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 5 and 8 Groups attacked an ammunition dump at Fouillard and a fuel dump at Châtellerault. The raid at Fouillard, carried out by No 4 Group with Pathfinder marking, hit the north- western section of the target and the all-No 5 Group raid at Châtellerault destroyed 8 fuel sites out of 35 in the target area. No aircraft lost.
224 aircraft - 184 Lancasters, 30 Stirlings, 10 Mosquitos - of Nos 3 and 8 Groups attacked railway yards at Lens and Valenciennes. The raids took place in clear visibility and both targets were accurately bombed. 6 Lancasters were lost from the Lens raid and 5 Lancasters from Valenciennes.
31 Mosquitos to Gelsenkirchen, 13 Serrate and 21 Intruder patrols, 7 Stirlings and 4 Halifaxes minelaying off Channel ports. 1 Mosquito lost from the Gelsenkirchen raid.
Total effort for the night: 527 sorties, 12 aircraft (2.3 per cent) lost.
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