He flew with a Handley Page Halifax (type V, serial LL358, code MA-Y).
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): Mission 533: 824 bombers and 675 fighters are dispatched to strategic targets (aircraft and tank factories, airfields and fuel depots) in SE Germany; weather deteriorated enroute and many bombers were recalled when confronted with a front rising to 28,000-feet (8,534 m) and most units attacked targets of opportunity; only 25 bombers hit their primary (Sindelfingen); 18 bombers and 3 fighters are lost; targets were (numbers in parenthesis indicate number of bombers bombing):
1. Of 359 B-17s, 103 hit Pirmasens; 56 hit Elsenborn, 41 hit Karlsruhe, 30 hit Ulm, 8 hit Spreicher and marshalling yards at Saarbrucken (34) and Luxembourg (29); they claim 1-1-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 11 B-17s are lost, 1 is damaged beyond repair and 157 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 5 WIA and 96 MIA.
Escort is provided by 243 P-47s and P-52s; they claim 33-0-10 aircraft in the air and 24-0-15 on the ground; 1 P-47 and 1 P-51 are lost (pilots are MIA); 2 P-47s and 5 P-51s are damaged beyond repair.
2. Of 218 B-17s, 16 hit Aacen, 12 hit Eindhoven, 12 hit St Vith marshalling yard and 7 hit targets of opportunity; 3 B-17s are lost, 1 is damaged beyond repair and 94 are damaged; 5 airman are WIA and 18 MIA.
Escort is provided by 162 P-47s and P-51s without loss.
3. Of 247 B-24s, 147 hit Saarbrucken marshalling yard and 25 hit an aircraft engine plant at Sindelfingen; 4 B-24s are lost, 2 are damaged beyond repair and 126 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 10 WIA and 39 MIA.
Escort is provided by 165 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; they claim 6-0-4 aircraft; 1 P-38 is lost (pilot is MIA).
Mission 535: 3 of 4 B-17s fly a Micro H test mission against Aubigny, France airstrip.
Escort is provided by 16 P-38s without loss.
Mission 536: 6 of 6 B-17s drop leaflets in France and the Netherlands during the night.
116 P-47s, escorted by 40 P-51s, are dispatched on fighter-bomber missions against communications in France without loss.
In England, HQ 325th Photographic Wing (Reconnaissance) is activated at High Wycombe; and HQ 25th Bombardment Group (Reconnaissance) and 652d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy, Weather Reconnaissance) with B-24s, the 653d Bombardment Squadron (Light, Weather Reconnaissance) with B-24s and Mosquito XVIs and 654th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy, Reconnaissance, Special) with B-24s, B-26s and Mosquito XVIs are activated at Watton.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): In France, close to 400 B-26s and A-20s attack an ammunition dump in Foret de Blois, shipping at Brest, and other targets, including rail bridges at 10 locations in N and W France; fighters escort IX Bomber Command aircraft, cover ground forces, and fly armed reconnaissance in the wide areas of N France (around Paris, as far S as Orleans, and as far NE as Reims and Chalons-sur-Marne).
170 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3 and 8 Groups attacked depots and storage dumps at Aire sur Lys and the Forêt de Lucheux. Both raids were successful. 1 Lancaster lost from the Forêt de Lucheux raid.
34 Mosquitos to Cologne, 11 RCM sorties, 18 Mosquito patrols, 24 aircraft minelaying off Brittany ports, 15 aircraft on Resistance operations. 2 aircraft, probably Halifaxes, lost from the Resistance operations.
172 aircraft - 114 Halifaxes, 35 Mosquitos, 23 Lancasters - of 4 and 8 Groups attacked 7 launching sites. Visibility was clear and all raids were successful. 3 Halifaxes lost.
160 aircraft - 147 Halifaxes, 8 Lancasters, 5 Mosquitos - of 4 and 8 Groups attacked a fuel-storage dump at Forêt De Mormal. A large column of thick smoke was rising from the target at the end of the raid. No aircraft lost.
29 Lancasters and 2 Mosquitos of No 5 Group. 17 Lancasters and 1 Mosquito attacked an oil depot and 12 Lancasters of No 617 Squadron and 1 Mosquito attacked the U-boat pens at La Pallice but smoke and haze prevented observation of results at both targets. No aircraft lost.
2 Halifaxes and 2 Wellingtons flew RCM sorties without loss.
311 aircraft- 171 Lancasters, 115 Halifaxes, 25 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 3, 6 and 8 Groups attacked 4 launching sites and the Fort-d'Englos storage site. All targets were accurately bombed and no aircraft were lost.
176 Lancasters and 14 Mosquitos of No 1 and 5 Groups successfully attacked an oil-storage dump at Forêt De Chatellerault. 2 Lancasters lost.
3 Mosquitos to Osnabrück, 21 RCM sorties, 40 Mosquito patrols, 16 Mosquitos minelaying in the Dortmund-Ems Canal and 10 Lancasters minelaying off Biscay ports, 20 aircraft on Resistance operations, 15 OTU sorties. No aircraft lost.
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