He flew with a Handley Page Halifax (type III, serial NA601, code LK-M).
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): Mission 647: 1,306 bombers and 622 fighters are dispatched to attack marshalling yards in W Germany and the synthetic oil plant at Ludwigshafen bombed by PFF; 5 bombers and 3 fighters are lost:
1. 534 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Ludwigshafen/Opau oil plant and the marshalling yard at Ludwigshafen (400); 46 others hit targets of opportunity; 3 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 86 damaged; 9 airmen are WIA.
Escort is provided by 200 of 216 P-51s without loss.
2. 444 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Frankfurt industrial area (410); 2 others hit targets of opportunity; 2 B-17s are lost and 41 damaged; 18 airmen are MIA.
Escort is provided by 210 P-38s and P-51s; 2 fighters are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 damaged.
3. 257 of 328 B-24s hit the Koblenz/Mosel and Koblenz/Rhein marshalling yards; 14 B-24s are damaged.
Escort is provided by 157 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; they claim 0-0-2 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 2 damaged.
176 B-24s on a TRUCKIN' mission fly fuel to France; 1 B-24 is lost.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): No bomber missions are flown.
IX Tactical Air Command flies cover for US First Army units in W Germany, dive- bombs rail lines, and flies armed reconnaissance over the Trier-Koblenz- Aachen, Germany area.
IX Air Defense Command flies night patrols from Paris E to Luxembourg and the German border.
In France, HQ 99th Combat Bombardment Wing (Medium) moves from Great Dunmow, England to Beaumont; the 378th Fighter Squadron, 362d Fighter Group, moves from Rennes to Prosnes with P-47s; the 449th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 322d Bombardment Group (Medium), moves from Great Saling, England to Beauvais/Tille with B-26s; the 585th and 587th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium), 394th Bombardment Group (Medium), move from Tour-en-Bassin to Bricy with B-26s; the 668th Bombardment Squadron (Light), 416th Bombardment Group (Light), moves from Wethersfield, England to Melun with A-20s.
872 aircraft - 430 Lancasters, 397 Halifaxes, 45 Mosquitos - were again sent to bomb German defensive positions at Calais but encountered low cloud. Only 287 aircraft were able to bomb, through breaks in the cloud. No aircraft lost.
70 Halifaxes of No 4 Group started a series of flights to carry petrol in jerricans from England to airfields in Belgium, in order to alleviate the severe fuel shortage being experienced by Allied ground forces. No 4 Group would fly 435 such sorties during an 8-day period. Each Halifax carried about 165 jerricans, approximately 750 gallons of petrol, on each flight. The total amount of petrol lifted during the period was approximately 325,000 gallons, about the same amount of fuel that the Halifaxes themselves consumed. No aircraft were lost during these operations.
4 RCM sorties, 5 Hudsons on Resistance operations. No losses.
Total effort for the day: 951 sorties, no losses.
48 Mosquitos to Mannheim and 4 to a chemical factory at Höchst, just west of Frankfurt, 3 RCM sorties, 30 Mosquito patrols. 1 Mosquito lost from the Mannheim raid.
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