He flew with a Handley Page Halifax (type III, serial MZ687, code PT-L).
16 August 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): Mission 556: 1,090 bombers and 692 fighters are dispatched to make visual attacks on oil refineries and aircraft plants in C Germany; 23 bombers and 3 fighters are lost (number in parenthesis indicate number of bombers attacking):
1. 425 B-17s are dispatched to hit Delitzsch air depot (102), the aviation industry at Schkeuditz (92) and Halle (60) and the oil industry at Bohlen (88); other targets are Naumburg (15), Halberstadt Airfield (13) and targets of opportunity (9); they claim 6-4-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; 10 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 234 damaged; 4 airmen are KIA, 9 WIA and 93 MIA.
Escort is provided by 246 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 15-1-3 aircraft in the air and 0-0-3 on the ground; 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair; 1 pilot is WIA.
2. 234 B-17s are dispatched to hit the oil industry at Rositz (105) and Zeitz (101); 3 others hit targets of opportunity; 6 B-17s are lost and 88 damaged; 3 airmen are WIA and 56 MIA.
Escort is provided by 166 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 5-0-1 aircraft; 2 P-47s are lost (pilots are MIA).
3. 65 B-24s are dispatched to Halberstadt Airfield (51); 10 others hit Quedlinburg Airfield and 1 hits a targets of opportunity; 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 8 damaged.
Escort is provided by 42 of 46 P-38s without loss.
4. 366 B-24s are dispatched to hit the aviation industry at Dessau (99), Kothen (71) and Magdeburg/Neustadt (67) and the oil industry at Magdeburg/Rothensee; 2 others hit targets of opportunity; 7 B-24s are lost and 173 damaged; 5 airmen are WIA and 66 MIA.
Escort is provided by 156 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 12-0-0 aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot is MIA).
Mission 557: 8 of 8 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): In France, about 130 B-26s and A-20s, with fighter escort, hit a Foret de Roumare ammunition dump and rail bridges at Pont-Audemer, Thibouville, Brionne, Nassandres, and Le Bourg; fighters give air cover to an armored division and infantry forces, and fly patrol and armed reconnaissance over N and W France; HQ 70th Fighter Wing moves from Villedieu les Poeles to Le Teilleul; and HQ 50th Fighter Group and the 10th, 81st and 313th Fighter Squadrons move from Carentan to Meautis with P-47s. The 93d Troop Carrier Squadron, 439th Troop Carrier Group, based at Upottery, England, ceases operating from Ramsbury and begins operating from Membury.
17 August 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): Three missions are flown: 1. Mission 558: 10 B-24s are dispatched to drop Azon missiles on the Les Foulous, France rail bridge but the mission is abandoned due to deteriorating weather. 2. Mission 559: 1 B-17 drop a BATTY TV bomb on the port area at La Pallice, France. 3. Mission 560: 7 of 7 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night. Fighter-bomber missions flown by the VIII Fighter Command: 1. 397 P-38s and P-47s hit the Paris/Brussels area; they claim 3-0-3 aircraft; 1 P-47 is damaged. 2. 318 P-51s are dispatched to hit communications targets; 7 P-51s are lost (pilots are MIA) and 4 are damaged; 1 pilot is WIA. 33 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): In France, 400+ A-20s and B-26s bomb road bridges at Montfort-sur-Risle, Pont-Audemer, Nassandres, Beaumont-le- Roger, Le Bourg, Brionne, and Beaumontel, and a rail bridge at La Ferriere- sur-Risle; fighters fly ground force cover over Saint-Malo and Dreux and armed reconnaissance in NW France; IX Tactical Air Command fighters attack and severely damage Gestapo HQ near Chateauroux; and HQ 406th Fighter Group and 512th, 513th and 514th Fighter Squadrons move from Tour-en-Bassin to Cretteville with P-47s.
461 Lancasters to attack the port and industrial areas at Stettin. 5 Lancasters lost. Bomber Command claimed an accurate attack, with much damage in the port and factory area.
348 aircraft - 195 Lancasters, 144 Halifaxes, 9 Mosquitos - to Kiel. 3 Halifaxes and 2 Lancasters lost. This raid was only partially successful.
Support and 145 aircraft from training units on diversionary sweep over the North Sea, 23 Mosquitos to Berlin, 5 to Deelen airfield and 3 each to Dortmund, Kamen and Sterkrade, 33 RCM sorties, 47 Mosquito patrols, 89 aircraft minelaying in the Baltic and in Kiel Bay and 4 in the River Gironde, 24 OTU sorties. 6 aircraft lost - 3 Halifaxes minelaying in Kiel Bay and 2 Lancasters off Swinemünde, and 1 OTU Wellington.
Total effort for the night: 1,188 sorties, 16 aircraft (1.3 per cent) lost.
79 Halifaxes of No 4 Group were sent to bomb shipping in the port area of Brest but the target area was covered by 7-10/10ths cloud. Only 54 aircraft bombed and no results were observed. No aircraft lost.
55 OTU Wellingtons and 14 RCM aircraft carried out a sweep over the North Sea without loss. This type of operation was now being flown on some nights when no major raid was being carried out, in order to draw up the German fighters and cause them to waste fuel. These sweeps were, therefore, part diversionary to confuse the German controllers but also part of the campaign against German oil supplies.
37 Mosquitos to Mannheim and 3 each to Dortmund, Kamen and Sterkrade, 15 RCM sorties, 14 Mosquito patrols, 12 Halifaxes minelaying off Biscay coasts, 4 aircraft on Resistance operations, 2 OTU leaflet sorties. No aircraft lost.
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