He flew with a Avro Lancaster (type III, serial NE139, code AR-).
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): Mission 451: 558 bombers and 632 fighters are dispatched to attack 7 airfields N and W of Paris; bad weather and mechanical failures cause 350+ bombers to abort; 1 B-17 and 4 fighters are lost:
1. Of 300 B-17s, 24 hit Dreux Airfield, 24 hit Illiers L'Eveque Airfield, 13 hit Conches Airfield and 1 hits a target of opportunity; 1 B-17s is lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 37 damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 9 MIA.
2. Of 258 B-24s, 56 hit Conches Airfield, 50 hit Beaumont le Roger Airfield, 49 hit Evreux Airfield, 25 hit Beaumont-sur-Oise Airfield and 12 hit Creil Airfield; 2 B-24s are damaged beyond repair and 52 damaged; 2 airmen are WIA.
199 P-38s, 189 P-47s and 244 P-51s are dispatched to escort the bombers but 63 abort; 2 P-38s, 1 P-47 and 1 P-51 are lost and 1 P-47 is damaged.
Of 144 P-38s and 176 P-47s, 29 hit Nevers marshalling yard, 25 hit Joinville Bridge, 16 hit Chartre-Chateaudun marshalling yard, 14 hit Perrigny marshalling yard, 14 hit Fresnes Bridge, 8 hit Cercy/La Tours marshalling yard, 8 hit Cambrai marshalling yard, 6 hit St Florentin, 5 hit targets of opportunity and 4 hit Rouen Bridge; they claim 17-0-10 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-0 on the ground; 1 P-38 is lost and 1 damaged.
Total VIII Fighter Command casualties are 1 KIA, 4 WIA and 7 MIA.
36 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night; 3 airmen are MIA after a plane crashes.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): In France bad weather curtails bomber operations, but 95 B-26s and A-20s bomb a rail bridge at Oissel and strongly defended positions N of Anneville-sur-Mer, using the Pathfinder technique; 900+ fighters strafe and bomb numerous targets including troop concentrations, gun positions, rail lines, marshalling yards, a tunnel, a radio station, bridges, highways, and a command post; fighters also fly escort and cover the beach and assault areas; units moving from England to France: 109th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group, from Middle Wallop to Le Molay with F-6s; 366th and 367th Fighter Squadrons, 358th Fighter Group, from High Halden to Cretteville with P-47s; 381st Fighter Squadron, 363d Fighter Group, from Staplehurst to Maupertus with P-51s; and 494th Fighter Squadron, 48th Fighter Group, from Ibsley to Deux Jumeaux with P-47s.
6 Mosquitos to Scholven/Buer and 4 to Homberg, 4 Stirlings minelaying off Brest, 24 aircraft on Resistance operations, 11 Mosquitos on flying-bomb patrols. No aircraft lost.
328 aircraft - 307 Halifaxes, 15 Mosquitos, 6 Lancasters - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups to 3 flying bomb launching sites. Some cloud was present but at least 2 of the attacks were assessed as accurate. No aircraft lost.
17 Lancasters, 1 Mosquito and 1 Mustang of No 617 Squadron attacked a flying-bomb store in a large cave at St Leu d'Esserent, north of Paris, and bombed the site accurately and without loss. (Aircraft of No 5 Group, with some Pathfinders, attacked St Leu d'Esserent immediately after the No 617 Squadron attack but Bomber Command records show the No 617 Squadron operation as a day raid and the later operation as a night raid.)
4 Mosquitos carried out uneventful Ranger patrols.
231 Lancasters and 15 Mosquitos, mostly from No 5 Group but with some Pathfinder aircraft, continued the attack on the underground flying-bomb store at St Leu d'Esserent with 1,000lb bombs, in order to cut all communications to the site. The bombing was accurate but 13 Lancasters were lost when German fighters engaged the force.
282 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 6 and 8 Groups attacked railway yards at Orleans and Villeneuve. Both targets were accurately bombed. 14 Lancasters were lost, 11 from the Villeneuve raid and 3 from Orleans.
36 Mosquitos to Scholven/Buer oil facility, 25 RCM sorties, 61 Mosquito patrols, 6 Stirlings and 5 Halifaxes minelaying off Brest and St Nazaire, 16 aircraft on Resistance operations, 30 OTU sorties. 1 Halifax RCM aircraft lost.
Total effort for the night: 712 sorties, 28 aircraft (3.9 per cent) lost.
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