He flew with a Handley Page Halifax (type III, serial LV614, code QO-S).
4 December 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 736: 1,191 bombers and 977 fighters are dispatched to make PFF attacks on rail targets in Germany; 3 bombers and 3 fighters are lost:
1. 419 B-17s are dispatched to hit marshalling yards at Kassel (212) and Soest (188); 2 others hit targets of opportunities; 4 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 3 damaged.
Escorting are 375 P-47s and P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA).
2. 315 B-24s are sent to hit the Bebra marshalling yard (199); targets of opportunity are marshalling yards at Koblenz (78) and Giessen (21) and other (1); 1 B-24 is lost and 15 damaged; 10 airmen are MIA.
Escorting are 290 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 6-0-11 aircraft on the ground.
3. 457 B-17s are sent to hit marshalling yards at Mainz (221) and Giessen (62); targets of opportunity are the Friedburg marshalling yard (119), Fulda (24), barges on the Rhine River (11) and other (6); 2 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 106 damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 18 MIA.
Escorting are 238 of 244 P-51s; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA).
4. 36 of 37 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
Mission 737: 10 of 11 B-17s and B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): Weather prevents bomber operations.
In Germany, fighters fly armed reconnaissance and support the US 1st, 8th, and 104th Infantry Divisions at Luchem, Bergstein, and E of Inde River; and the XII and XX Corps in drive toward the Saar River and around Saarlautern.
5 December 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): 3 missions are flown.
Mission 738: 589 bombers and 884 fighters are dispatched to make attacks on Germany; an estimated 275-300 Luftwaffe fighters attack and AAF fighters claim 90-7-30 aircraft; 12 bombers and 17 fighters are lost:
1. 451 B-17s are dispatched to make PFF attacks on munitions and tank plants at Berlin (404); targets of opportunity are Nienburg (2) and other (23); 12 B-17s are lost and 169 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 8 WIA and 115 MIA.
Escorting are 630 of 711 P-51s; they claim 90-7-23 aircraft in the air and 0-0-2 on the ground; 15 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair.
2. 114 of 129 B-24s hit the marshalling yard at Munster; 10 B-24s are damaged.
Escorting are 141 P-47s and P-51s; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 P-47 damaged beyond repair.
3. 6 of 6 B-24s fly a screening mission.
4. 23 of 25 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
Mission 739 is an APHRODITE mission with 2 B-17 Castor drones, 3 B-17 control and observation aircraft, a P-38 observation aircraft and 17 of 17 P-51s as escort; the P-51s claim 1-0-0 aircraft.
Mission 740: 11 of the 4 B-17s and 8 B-24s dispatched drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 172 A-20s, A-26s, and B-26s attack a marshalling yard, road junction, fuel storage dump, defended positions, and rail bridge at 8 locations; fighters escort 9th Bombardment Division aircraft, fly numerous armed reconnaissance missions, and provide cover for the US 1st, 8th, and 104th Infantry Divisions in the Luchem, Bergstein, and Lucherberg areas.
11 Oboe Mosquitos bombed a steelworks at Hallendorf without loss.
160 Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out a G-H raid on Oberhausen but no results could be seen because of cloud. 1 Lancaster lost.
27 Lancasters and 3 Mosquitos of No 8 Group carried out the first of several raids on the large reservoir dam at Urft in the Eifel. The destruction of which was required so that the Germans could not release water to flood areas through which American troops wished to advance. The series of raids did blast 13ft off the top of the dam but no large breach was ever made and the Germans were able to release large quantities of water whenever they wished to interfere with American advances being attempted further downstream. No aircraft were lost from this raid.
Karlsruhe: 535 aircraft - 369 Lancasters, 154 Halifaxes, 12 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 6 and 8 Groups. 1 Lancaster and 1 Mosquito lost. The marking and bombing were accurate and severe damage was caused, particularly in the southern and western districts of the city. Among individual buildings destroyed were the important Durlacher machine-tool factory, the main Protestant church and the concert hall.
Heilbronn: 282 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of No 5 Group. 12 Lancasters lost. This was a crushing blow on Heilbronn which stood on a main north-south railway line but was otherwise of little importance. It was the first and only major raid by Bomber Command on this target. 1,254 tons of bombs fell in a few minutes and the post-war British Bombing Survey Unit estimated that 351 acres, 82 per cent of the town's built-up area, were destroyed, mainly by fire. Much investigation by various people resulted in the reliable estimate that just over 7,000 people died. Most of these victims would have died in fires so intense that there was probably a genuine firestorm.
54 Mosquitos to Hagen and 12 to Bielefe1d and Hamm (the figure was not subdivided), 47 RCM sorties, 60 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.
Total effort for the night: 1,000 sorties, 14 aircraft (1.4 per cent) lost.
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