He flew with a Avro Lancaster (type III, serial ND402, code PM-).
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): Mission 282: Airfields in France are attacked by 701 bombers.
1. 285 of 290 B-17s hit the following airfields: St Jean D/Angely (55), La Rochell/La Leu (59), Chartres (60), Tours/Parcay Meslay Air Depot (74), Usine Liotard Air Depot (35) and targets of opportunity (2); 1 B-17 is lost and 37 damaged; casualties are 1 WIA and 10 MIA.
2. 248 of 256 B-17s hit the following airfields: Bordeaux/Merignac (123), Cayeux (118) and Chartres (7); 2 B-17s are lost and 51 damaged; casualties are 11 KIA, 2 WIA and 20 MIA.
3. All 168 B-24s hit the following airfields: Pau/Ont Long (72), Biarritz (49) and Mont de Marsan (47); 3 B-24s are lost, 4 damaged beyond repair and 18 damaged; casualties are 20 KIA, 1 WIA and 31 MIA.
Escort is provided by 132 P-38s, 706 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 122 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; results are: P-38s: 2 lost and 1 damaged beyond repair; 2 pilots are MIA.
P-47s claim 6-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 P-47s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 4 damaged; 1 pilot is WIA and 5 are MIA.
P-51s claim 2-0-3 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 30-1-11 on the ground; 3 P-51s are lost and 1 damaged; 3 pilots are MIA.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): 18 B-26s attack V-weapon sites in N France; 35 others abort due primarily to failure of blind-bombing equipment.
The onset of bad weather makes this the last B-26 mission until 8 Apr.
303d, 305th and 306th Troop Carrier Squadrons, 442d Troop Carrier Group, arrives at Fulbeck, England from the US with C-47s.
Essen: 705 aircraft - 476 Lancasters, 207 Halifaxes, 22 Mosquitos. The sudden switch by Bomber Command to a Ruhr target just across the German frontier caught the German fighter controllers by surprise and only 9 aircraft - 6 Lancasters, 3 Halifaxes - were lost, 1.3 per cent of the force. Essen was covered by cloud but the Oboe Mosquitos marked the target well and this was a successful attack.
109 aircraft - 70 Halifaxes, 32 Stirlings, 7 Mosquitos of Nos 3, 4, 6 and 8 Groups - attacked railway targets at Courtrai. No aircraft lost.
22 Mosquitos to Hannover, 3 to Aachen and 3 to Julianadorp, 8 RCM sorties, 13 Serrate patrols, 20 Stirlings minelaying off French ports, 4 aircraft on Resistance operations, 12 OTU sorties. No aircraft lost.
Total effort for the night: 899 sorties, 9 aircraft (1.0 per cent) lost.
14 Mosquitos to Duisburg and 3 to Krefeld. No losses.
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