He flew with a Avro Lancaster (type III, serial ND976, code KM-R).
21 May 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): Mission 360: 150 bombers and 48 fighters hit V-weapon sites in France without loss; 25 of 40 B-17s hit Marquise/Mimoyecques and 13 B-17s are damaged; 99 of 110 B-24s hit Siracourt and 1 B-24 is damaged.
Escort is provided by 48 P-47s without loss.
617 fighters are dispatched on strafing missions to attack rail stock in Germany; 27 fighters are lost; 91 of 225 locomotives attacked are destroyed; P-47s also dive bomb rail bridges in W Germany; and 1 P-51 pilot claims 25 cows killed; participating are:
1. 145 P-38s claim 2-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 6-0-3 on the ground; 8 P-38s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 12 damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 8 MIA.
2. 139 P-47s claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air; 4 P-47s are lost and 21 damaged; 3 pilots are MIA.
3. 333 P-51s claim 17-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 77-0-64 on the ground; 15 P-51s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 20 damaged; 15 pilots are MIA.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): In France 50 B-26s bomb airfields at Abbeville/Drucat; and 600+ P-47s and P-51s attack railroad rolling stock.
404th Fighter Squadron, 371st Fighter Group, based at Bisterne, England, begins operating from Ibsley with P-47s.
22 May 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): Occupancy of all planned Eighth Air Force stations in Britain is completed with the transfer of the airfield at N Pickenham from the RAF to the Eighth; total stations number 77, including 66 airfields, occupied by 82 operational or HQ units.
Mission 361: 438 bombers and 568 fighters are dispatched on PFF attacks to targets in Germany and France; 5 bombers and 7 fighters are lost:
1. 342 are dispatched to the port area at Kiel, Germany; 289 hit the primary and 5 bomb targets of opportunity; 5 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 209 damaged; 4 airmen are KIA, 3 WIA and 78 MIA.
2. 94 of 96 B-24s hit V-weapon sites at Siracourt, France; 1 B-24 is damaged.
Escort is provided by 145 P-38s, 95 P-47s and 328 P-51s; P-38s claim 8-1-5 Luftwaffe aircraft, P-47s claim 12-1-2 and P-51s claim 2-2-1; 3 P-38s, 3 P-47s and a P-51 are lost; 1 P-38 and 2 P-47s are damaged beyond repair; 1 P-38, 2 P-47s and a P-51 are damaged; 6 pilots are MIA.
130 P-47s are dispatched on a fighter-bomber attack railroad bridges at Hasselt and Liege, Belgium; 1 P-47 is lost and 1 damaged.
Mission 363: 4 of 4 B-17s drop 320,000 leaflets on The Hague, Haarlem, Rotterdam and Utrecht, The Netherlands without loss.
12 B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions without loss.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): Around 330 B-26s and A-20s bomb airfields and other targets in the Cherbourg, Calais, and Paris areas of France while a like number of P-47s and P-51s dive-bomb marshalling yards, airfields and other targets in the same general areas.
510 Lancasters and 22 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3, 5 and 8 Groups carried out the first large raid on Duisburg for a year. 29 Lancasters were lost, 5.5 per cent of the force. The target was covered by cloud but the Oboe skymarking was accurate and much damage was caused in the southern areas of the city.
Minelaying: 70 Lancasters and 37 Halifaxes to the Frisians, Heligoland, the Kattegat and Kiel Bay. 3 Lancasters lost.
25 Mosquitos to Hannover and 8 to Courtrai, 9 RCM sorties, 28 Serrate and 7 Intruder patrols. No aircraft lost.
Total effort for the night: 716 sorties, 32 aircraft (4.5 per cent) lost.
361 Lancasters and 14 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3, 6 and 8 Groups carried out the first large raid on Dortmund for a year. 18 Lancasters were lost, 4.8 per cent of the force. The attack fell mainly in the south-eastern districts of Dortmund, mostly in residential areas.
Brunswick: 225 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of No 1 and 5 Groups. 13 Lancasters lost, 5.5 per cent of the force. This raid was a failure. The weather forecast had predicted a clear target but the marker aircraft found a complete covering of cloud. There was also interference on the Master Bomber's radio communications, The No 5 Group method could not cope with these conditions and most of the bombing fell in the country areas around Brunswick. A reconnaissance aircraft flying through this area an hour later found it completely free of cloud.
133 aircraft - 112 Halifaxes, 13 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitos - of Nos 6 and 8 Groups again attacked the railway yards at Le Mans. The local report confirms that the bombing was accurate, with much damage to the railways and the nearby Gnome & Rhone factory. 1 Halifax lost.
Orleans: 128 aircraft - 108 Halifaxes, 12 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitos - of Nos 4 and 8 Groups. 1 Halifax lost. Most of the bombs fell on the passenger station and the railway-repair workshops.
26 Mosquitos to Ludwigshafen and 9 to Courtrai, 9 RCM sorties, 21 Serrate and 8 Intruder patrols, 54 aircraft minelaying in the Frisians and off the French coast, 25 OTU sorties. 1 OTU Whitley was lost, probably the last Whitley to be lost on operations.
Total effort for the night: 1,023 sorties, 34 aircraft (3.3 per cent) lost. The raids on Dortmund and Brunswick were the last major Bomber Command raids on German cities until after the invasion forces were firmly established in Normandy.
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