He flew with a Handley Page Halifax (type III, serial MZ877, code HD-P).
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 746: The largest number of bombers so far dispatched, 1,586, and 841 fighters are sent to hit rail targets and bridges in W Germany using PFF means; 5 bombers and 2 fighters are lost:
1. 319 of 334 B-17s hit the marshalling yard at Frankfurt; 2 others hit targets of opportunity; 2 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 9 damaged.
Escorting are 167 of 181 P-51s without loss.
2. 297 of 353 B-24s hit the marshalling yard at Hanau; 5 hit the secondary, Karlsruhe, and 2 hit targets of opportunity; 4 B-24s are lost and 7 damaged; 36 airmen are MIA.
Escorting are 143 of 159 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair.
3. 353 of 540 B-17s hit the marshalling yard at Giessen; 135 hit the secondary, the marshalling yard at Koblenz; targets of opportunity are Euskirchen (12) and other (11); 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 9 damaged; 2 airmen are WIA.
Escort is provided by 349 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 0-0-1 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair.
4. 171 of 182 B-17s hit bridges at Mannheim; 1 B-17 is lost and 18 damaged; 9 airmen are MIA.
Escorting are 54 of 59 P-51s without loss.
5. 154 of 177 B-24s hit a bridge at Maximiliansau; 6 other hit the secondary, the marshalling yard at Hanau; 8 B-24s are damaged; 2 airmen are MIA.
Escorting are 34 of 37 P-47s without loss.
6. 30 of 30 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
Mission 747: 3 B-17s and 8 B-24s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany; 1 B-24 is lost.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 200+ bombers dispatched to bomb defended villages and storage areas are recalled because of weather; 1 bomber manages to bomb a stores depot at Reichenbach; fighters escort the RAF, divebomb targets in cities, and support the US 3d Armored Division in the Echtz-Geich area, the 104th Infantry Division at Merken, the 9th Infantry Division at Merode and Derichsweiler, and the 83d Infantry Division at Strass.
233 Lancasters of No 5 Group and 5 Mosquitos of No 8 Group to the Urft Dam. Hits were scored but no breach was made. 1 Lancaster lost.
Osterfeld: 150 Lancasters of No 3 Group on G-H raids through cloud on the railway yards (98 aircraft) and on the benzol plant (52 aircraft). The bombing appeared to be accurate. 1 Lancaster lost.
Duisburg: 80 Mosquitos of No 8 Group on Oboe-leader raids to a coking plant (48 aircraft) and to the Meiderich benzol plant. Most of the bombing on the benzol plant and approximately half on the coking plant appeared to be accurate. No aircraft lost.
Total effort for the day: 468 sorties, 2 aircraft (0.4 per cent) lost.
38 Mosquitos to Hannover, 28 to Hamburg, 9 to Schwerte, 8 to Bielefeld and 6 to Duisburg. 1 aircraft lost from the Hamburg raid.
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