He flew with a Handley Page Halifax (type III, serial MZ713, code PT-U).
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): Mission 494: 1,581 bombers and 500 fighters are dispatched to support a US First Army assault (Operation COBRA) with saturation bombing in the VII Corps area in the Marigny-Saint-Gilles region, just W of Saint-Lo; 5 bombers and 2 fighters are lost; 843 of 917 B-17s and 647 of 664 B-24s hit the Periers/St Lo area and 13 B-17s hit targets of opportunity; 1 B-17 and 4 B-24s are lost, 2 B-24s are damaged beyond repair and 41 B-17s and 132 B-24s are damaged; 9 airmen are WIA and 46 MIA.
Escort is provided by 483 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s and also provide escort for Ninth Air Force B-26s; they claim 12-1-3 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 2-0-0 on the ground; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots are MIA) and 5 damaged.
Due to a personnel error, bombs from 35 bombers fall within US lines; 102 US troops, including Lieutenant General Lesley J McNair, are killed and 380 wounded.
Mission 295: Late in the afternoon 106 B-24s are dispatched to bomb the Brussels/Melsbroek Airfield, Belgium but they are recalled because of heavy cloud formations.
Escort for this mission is provided by 26 P-38s and 110 P-51s.
1 P-38 and 78 P-47s fly a fighter-bomber mission against the Fournival/Bois de Mont fuel dump; they claim 0-0-1 aircraft; 1 P-38 and 4 P-47s are damaged.
17 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): In France during the morning 11 B-26 and A-20 groups attack tactical targets in the vicinity of Saint-Lo in support of the US First Army; in the afternoon 4 groups bomb bridges on the Seine and Loire Rivers; 42 B-26s, repeating errors of the previous day, short- bomb behind US lines and casualties again are concentrated in the 30th Infantry Division; fighters strafe and bomb military targets in the Saint-Lo area in support of Operation COBRA, fly area patrol and sweeps S of the battle area, and carry out armed reconnaissance against installations in the Laval-Ghent-Amiens areas; and the 422d Night Fighter Squadron, 71st Fighter Wing, moves from Scorton, England to Maupertus with P-61s (a detachment is at Ford, England).
461 Lancasters and 153 Halifaxes to Stuttgart. 17 Lancasters and 4 Halifaxes lost, 4.6 per cent of the force. This was the first of 3 heavy raids on Stuttgart in 5 nights and the only report available is a composite one for the 3 raids. The 3 raids caused the most serious damage of the war in the central districts of Stuttgart which, being situated in a series of narrow valleys, had eluded Bomber Command for several years. They were now devastated and most of Stuttgart's public and cultural buildings were destroyed. The second of the 3 raids, on the night of 25/26 July, was the most successful.
104 Lancasters and 9 Mosquitos of 5 and 8 Groups attacked the oil depot at Donges again and, according to reports, the target was 'devastated'. 3 Lancasters lost.
112 aircraft - l00 Halifaxes, 10 Mosquitos, 2 Lancasters - of Nos 6 and 8 Groups attacked a flying-bomb site at Ferfay but the Master Bomber allowed only 73 aircraft to bomb. 1 Halifax lost.
Support and 107 aircraft from training units on diversionary sweep, 27 Mosquitos to Berlin, 8 to Frankfurt and 5 to Aachen, 36 RCM sorties, 46 Mosquito patrols, 4 Halifaxes minelaying off Brest and Lorient, 12 aircraft on Resistance operations, 4 OTU sorties. No aircraft lost.
Total effort for the night: 1,088 sorties, 25 aircraft (2.3 per cent) lost.
94 Lancasters and 6 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked an airfield and signals depot at St Cyr. Bombing was accurate. 1 Lancaster lost.
93 aircraft - 81 Lancasters, 11 Mosquitos, 1 Mustang - of 5 and 8 Groups attacked 2 launching sites and the Watten storage site. All raids were successful and no aircraft were lost.
412 Lancasters and 138 Halifaxes to continue the attack on Stuttgart. 8 Lancasters and 4 Halifaxes lost, 2.2 per cent of the force.
135 aircraft - 114 Halifaxes, 11 Lancasters, 10 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4 and 8 Groups attacked the Krupp oil refinery at Wanne-Eickel. No aircraft lost. Only a few bombs hit a corner of the oil refinery and production was not seriously affected. Other bombs hit the south-eastern part of Eickel, destroying 14 houses and killed 29 civilians, 4 foreign workers and 3 prisoners of war and causing production at the Hannibal coal mine to cease.
36 Lancasters and 15 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups bombed 3 launching sites and succeeded in destroying the launching ramp at the Bois des Jardins site. No aircraft lost.
21 Mosquitos to Berlin, 15 to Mannheim and 6 to Somain, 28 RCM sorties, 37 Mosquito patrols, 4 Halifaxes minelaying off Brest, 5 Halifaxes on Resistance operations. 1 Mosquito of No 100 Group lost.
Total effort for the night: 852 sorties, 13 aircraft (1.5 per cent) lost.
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