He flew with a Avro Lancaster (type III, serial ED908, code 6O-Z).
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): Mission 484: 1,172 bombers and 542 fighters are dispatched to hit oil and industrial targets in C Germany; 19 bombers and 8 fighters are lost:
1. Of 417 B-17s, 107 hit Dessau, 69 hit Kothen, 56 hit Leipzig/Mockau, 45 hit the Leipzig bearing industry, 36 hit Nordhuasen Airfield, 23 hit Kolleda Airfield, 20 hit targets of opportunity, 12 hit Bitterfeld, 12 hit Giessen Airfield, and 12 hit Rudolstadt; they claim 11-9-7 Luftwaffe aircraft; 15 B-17s are lost and 188 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 10 WIA and 129 MIA.
Escort is provided by 253 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; they claim 5-0-3 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 2-0-0 on the ground; 2 P-47s and 4 P-51s are lost, 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair; 1 airman is WIA and 3 MIA.
2. Of 295 B-17s, 155 hit Merseburg, 53 hit Lutzkendorf, 47 hit Wetzlar and 7 hit targets of opportunity; 2 B-17s are lost and 153 damaged; 2 airmen are WIA and 21 MIA.
Escort is provided by 178 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; they claim 1-1-1 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-4 on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot is MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair.
3. Of 460 B-24s, 123 hit Erfurt Nord and 11 hit Erfurt/Bindersleben Airfields; 80 hit Schmalkalden; 72 hit Gotha; 24 hit Freiburg, 18 hit Fulda, 12 hit Idstein, 10 hit Bad Salzungen, 10 hit Wernhausen and 9 hit Homburg marshalling yards; 21 hit Berka, 12 hit Bad Nauheim, 7 hit Koblenz, 6 hit Boppard and 6 hit targets of opportunity; 1 B-24 is lost and 31 damaged; 2 airmen are WIA and 9 MIA.
Escort is provided by 45 of 47 P-47s; they claim 6-0-3 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; 1 P-47s is lost (pilot is MIA).
Mission 485: 6 of 6 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.
12 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): In France, weather forbids morning operations; in the afternoon 62 A-20s and B-26s strike the Senonches fuel dump and Chaulnes marshalling yard; fighters escort the bombers and transports and fly armed reconnaissance against rail lines, bridges, and gun positions S of the frontlines.
The following units based in England begin operating from Italy with C-47s: - 75th, 76th and 78th Troop Carrier Squadrons, 435th Troop Carrier Group, based at Welford Pard operating from Tarquinia.
- 79th, 80th, 81st and 82d Troop Carrier Squadrons, 436th Troop Carrier Group, based at Membury operating from Voltone Airfield.
- 87th, 88th and 89th Troop Carrier Squadrons, 438th Troop Carrier Group, based at Greenham Common operating from Canino Airfield.
36 Mosquitos to Bremen, 9 RCM sorties, 29 Mosquito patrols, 6 Halifaxes minelaying off Heligoland, 8 OTU sorties. No aircraft lost.
369 aircraft - 174 Lancasters, 165 Halifaxes, 30 Mosquitos - attacked 6 flying-bomb launching sites and the V-weapon site at Wizemes. All raids were successful except the small raid by 20 aircraft on the Forêt de Croc site where the Oboe leader Lancaster was shot down on the bombing run and the bombs of this force all missed the target. This was the only aircraft lost.
8 Mosquitos flew uneventful Ranger patrols.
The unsuccessful attempt on Hitler's life at his headquarters in East Prussia took place on this day.
302 Lancasters and 15 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 5 and 8 Groups attacked the railway yards and a 'triangle' rail junction at Courtrai. The Bomber Command report states that both targets 'were devastated'. 9 Lancasters lost.
166 aircraft - 149 Halifaxes, 13 Mosquitos, 4 Lancasters - of 4 and 8 Groups attacked the synthetic-oil refinery at Bottrop. The northern part of the target was badly damaged. 7 Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster lost.
147 Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3 and 8 Groups attacked the oil plant at Homberg and caused severe damage. German documents show that the production of aviation fuel, which had stood at nearly 6,000 tons per day at the end of April, was now fluctuating between 120 and 970 tons per day, following Bomber Command and American Eighth Air Force raids. But German night fighters caught the Homberg bomber force and 20 Lancasters were lost. No 75 (New Zealand) Squadron, from Mepal, lost 7 of its 25 aircraft on the raid.
87 aircraft - 54 Halifaxes, 23 Lancasters, 10 Mosquitos - of 4, 5 and 8 Groups attacked flying bomb sites at Ardouval and Wizernes without loss but only 23 aircraft bombed at Ardouval and none at Wizernes.
Support and 106 aircraft from training units on a diversionary sweep over the North Sea, 6 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitos on a 'spoof' raid to Alost, 26 Mosquitos to Hamburg, 33 RCM sorties, 42 Mosquito patrols, 8 Stirlings minelaying off Lorient, 17 aircraft on Resistance operations. 1 Mosquito lost from the Hamburg raid.
Total effort for the night: 971 sorties, 38 aircraft (3.9 per cent) lost.
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