He flew with a Handley Page Halifax (type III, serial LW139, code AL-P).
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force):: 2 missions are flown.
Mission 843: As a follow-up to the yesterday's attacks on transportation facilities as part of Operation CLARION, 1,274 bombers and 705 fighters are dispatched to hit marshalling yards in Germany; they claim 15-0-16 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-24 and 6 P-51s are lost:
1. 446 B-17s are dispatched to hit marshalling yards at Treuchtlingen (61), Crailsheim (52), Neumarkt (74), Ansbach (109) and Kitzingen (95); targets of opportunity are Nordlingen (2), Schwabisch Hall (24), Winterhausen (7) and other (2); 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 34 damaged; 1 airman is WIA.
Escorting are 194 of 203 P-51s; they claim 5-0-2 aircraft on the ground; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA).
2. 460 B-17s are sent to hit the marshalling yard at Plauen (110); targets of opportunity are Meiningen (49), Adelsberg (12), Hildburghausen (12), Kitzingen (88), Lichtenfels (13), Schweinfurt (12), Ellingen (25), Ottingen (48), Wurzburg (37), Crailsheim (38), and Zwolle (1); 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 16 damaged; 3 airmen are WIA.
193 of 208 P-51s escort and claim 1-0-0 aircraft in the air; 3 P-51s are lost; 1 pilot is KIA and 3 MIA.
3. 368 B-24s are dispatched to hit marshalling yards at Weimar (57), Fulda (10) and Gera (46); targets of opportunity are Paderborn (104), Osnabruck (50), Jena (25), Schluchtern (20), Fritzlar (9), Reichenbach (9), Steinau (9), and other (1); 1 B-24 is lost, 4 damaged beyond repair and 6 damaged; 21 airmen are KIA and 4 WIA.
The escort is 105 of 110 P-51s.
4. 141 P-47s and P-51s make a sweep of Neuburg, Landsberg and Leipheim Airfields claiming 9-0-14 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA).
5. 4 P-51s escort 10 F-5s on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany.
6. 30 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
Mission 844: 24 of 27 B-24s make a PFF attack on the Neuss marshalling yard during the night without loss.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
First Tactical Air Force (Provisional): The 527th Fighter Squadron, 86th Fighter Group moves from Pisa, Italy to Tantonville, France with P-47s.
Ninth Air Force: The 9th Bombardment Division hits communications centers E of the Roer River as the US Ninth Army crosses the river and begins an assault (Operation GRENADE) toward the Rhine River; fighters fly armed reconnaissance, patrols, and alerts and support the US 104th and 8th Infantry Divisions near Duren, Germany, the XIII and XIX Corps' attack across the Roer at Linnich and Rurdorf, Germany, and the VIII, XII, and XX Corps at the Prum River, E of the Our River, and E of the Saar River.
73 Mosquitos to Berlin, 6 to Bremen, 4 to Erfurt and 3 on 'siren tours' of various German towns, 35 Lancasters to railway viaducts at Altenbeken and Bielefeld, 48 RCM sorties, 23 Mosquito patrols, 19 aircraft on Resistance operations. 1 Mosquito from the Erfurt raid crashed in Belgium.
342 aircraft - 297 Halifaxes, 27 Lancasters, 18 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups to Essen. 1 Halifax crashed in Holland. The target area was cloud-covered and all of the bombs were dropped on skymarkers. The marking must have been extremely accurate; a German report states that 300 high-explosive and 11,000 incendiary bombs fell on the Krupps works.
133 Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out a G-H attack on the Alma Pluto benzol plant at Gelsenkirchen but no results were seen. No aircraft lost.
1 Lightning flew an RCM sortie.
367 Lancasters and 13 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 6 and 8 Groups and a Film Unit Lancaster carried out the first, and only, area-bombing raid of the war on Pforzheim. 10 Lancasters were lost and 2 more crashed in France. The marking and bombing, from only 8,000 ft, were particularly accurate and damage of a most severe nature was inflicted on Pforzheim. 1,825 tons of bombs were it dropped in 22 minutes. The post-war British Bombing Survey Unit estimated that 83 per cent of the town's built-up area was destroyed, probably the greatest proportion in one raid during the war.
Bomber Command's last Victoria Cross of the war was won on this night. The Master Bomber was Captain Edwin Swales, DFC, a South African serving with No 582 Squadron. His Lancaster was twice attacked over the target by a German fighter. Captain Swales could not hear the evasion directions given by his gunners because he was broadcasting his own instructions to the Main Force. 2 engines and the rear turret of the Lancaster were put out of action. Captain Swales continued to control the bombing until the end of the raid and must take some credit for the accuracy of the attack. He set out on the return flight but encountered turbulent cloud and ordered his crew to bale out. This they all did successfully but Captain Swales had no opportunity to leave the aircraft and was killed when it crashed. He is buried at the Leopold War Cemetery at Limburg in Belgium.
73 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos carried out an accurate attack on a possible U-boat base at Horten on the Oslo Fjord. 1 Lancaster was lost.
70 Mosquitos to Berlin, 6 to Worms and 4 each to Darmstadt, Essen and Frankfurt, 54 RCM sorties, 25 Mosquito patrols, 22 Lancasters minelaying in Norwegian waters, 13 aircraft on Resistance operations. 4 aircraft lost - 2 RCM Halifaxes, 1 Resistance operation Stirling and 1 Mosquito from the Berlin raid.
Total effort for the night: 666 sorties, 17 aircraft (2.6 per cent) lost.
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