He flew with a Avro Lancaster (type III, serial PB302, code GT-B).
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): Two major missions are flown against Berlin and strategic targets in N and C Germany; 3 bombers and 10 fighters are lost: Mission 583: 426 B-17s are dispatched but encounter very high clouds over Denmark and N Germany and are recalled; 5 hit Ausum Airfield, 4 hit targets of opportunity and 1 hits Flensburg marshalling yard; 2 B-17s are lost and 16 damaged; 9 airmen are MIA.
Escort is provided by 180 of 194 P-51s; 3 P-51s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 2 damaged; 1 pilot is KIA and 3 MIA.
Mission 584: 777 bombers and 351 fighters are dispatched:
1. Of 371 B-17s dispatched, targets hit are Esbjerg Airfield (60), Emden marshalling yards and docks (37), Wilhelmshaven (34), Heligoland Island (11), Island of Fano (1) and Island of Sylt (1); 1 B-17 is lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 54 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 5 WIA and 10 MIA.
Escort is provided by 156 of 167 P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft in the air and 1-0-0 on the ground; 7 P-51s are lost and 1 damaged; 7 pilots are MIA.
2. 34 of 406 B-24s hit Heligoland Island; 3 B-24s are damaged.
Escort is provided by 169 P-38s and P-51s; 7 P-51s are damaged.
316 of 326 P-47s fly fighter-bomber missions against transport in E France; they claim 14-0-4 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-47 is lost (pilot is MIA).
Mission 585: 6 of 6 B-17s drop leaflets in France and the Netherlands during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): In France, the IX Bomber Command attacks troop concentrations in the Rouen area, Rouen bridge, Boulogne-sur- Mer/Boursin navigational beam station, and Bucy-les-Pierrepont and Foret de Samoussy fuel dumps; fighters cover ground forces and fly sweeps and armed reconnaissance in the Senlis area and S of the Loire River claiming 16 aircraft (11 in the air) destroyed, and losing 6; the 31st Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 10th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance), moves from Rennes to Chateaudun with F-5s; the 112th Liaison Squadron, Ninth Air Force, moves from Heston, England to Jullouville with L-5s; and the 395th and 396th Fighter Squadrons, 368th Fighter Group, moves from Cardonville to Chartres with P-47s.
372 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3 and 8 Groups despatched to Kiel. 17 Lancasters lost, 4.6 per cent of the Lancaster force. The Pathfinder marking was hampered by smoke-screens but the local report tells of a very serious raid with heavy bombing in the town centre and surrounding districts and widespread fires fanned by a strong wind. The Rathaus was completely burnt out and many other public buildings were destroyed or seriously damaged.
174 Lancasters of No 5 Group to Königsberg, which was an important supply port for the German Eastern Front. The route to the target was 950 miles from the No 5 Group bases. Photographic reconnaissance showed that the bombing fell in the eastern part of the town but no report is available from the target, now Kaliningrad in Lithuania. 4 Lancasters lost.
Support and 108 training aircraft on a diversionary sweep to Normandy, 21 Mosquitos to Berlin, 13 to Hamburg and 12 to five other targets, 19 RCM sorties, 70 Mosquito patrols, 30 Lancasters and 15 Halifaxes minelaying off Danzig and Kiel. 7 aircraft lost - 5 Lancaster minelayers, 1 Mosquito RCM aircraft and 1 Mosquito Serrate aircraft.
Total effort for the night: 844 sorties, 28 aircraft (3.3 per cent) lost.
243 aircraft - 216 Halifaxes of No 4 Group and 14 Mosquitos and 13 Lancasters of No 8 Group - were dispatched on a historic raid to Homberg, the first major raid by Bomber Command to Germany in daylight since 12 August 1941, when 54 Blenheims had attacked power-stations near Cologne for the loss of 10 aircraft. This raid was escorted by 9 squadrons of Spitfires on the outward flight and 7 squadrons on the withdrawal. 1 Me110 was seen; the Spitfires drove it off. There was intense flak over the target but no bombers were lost. The target was the Rheinpreussen synthetic-oil refinery at Meerbeck. The bombing was based on Oboe marking but 5-8/10ths cloud produced difficult conditions, though some accurate bombing was claimed through gaps in the clouds.
226 aircraft - 176 Halifaxes, 40 Lancasters, 10 Mosquitos - of 6 and 8 Groups carried out an accurate attack on a flying-bomb site at Mimoyecques without loss.
24 Lancasters and 1 Mosquito of No 5 Group bombed 2 ships in Brest harbour and claimed hits on both. No aircraft lost.
30 Mosquitos to Mannheim, 66 OTU Wellingtons on a diversionary sweep, 19 RCM sorties, 26 Mosquito patrols, 7 aircraft on Resistance operations. 2 Mosquitos from the Mannheim raid and 1 Intruder Mosquito lost.
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