He flew with a Avro Lancaster (type III, serial PB511, code 6O-).
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): Mission 632: As part of Operation FRANTIC, 110 B-17s are dispatched to drop supplies to Warsaw patriots and then proceed to bases in the USSR; a weather front is encountered over the North Sea and the bombers are recalled.
Escort is provided by 149 of 156 P-51s; 2 P-51s collide in a cloud and are lost.
Three Fighter Wings and the 15 Fighter Groups are reassigned from the VIII Fighter Command to the three Bombardment Divisions as follows: 1st Bombardment Division 67th Fighter Wing: 20th, 352d, 356th, 359th and 364th Fighter Groups 2d Bombardment Division 65th Fighter Wing: 4th, 56th, 355th, 361st and 479th Fighter Groups 3d Bombardment Division 66th Fighter Wing: 55th, 78th, 339th, 353d and 357th Fighter Groups
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): In France, bad weather prevents bomber operations; the IX Tactical Air Command supports US First Army troops and in Germany, flies armed reconnaissance around Cologne and from Trier to the Rhine River area; the XIX Tactical Air Command supports the US Third Army and flies armed reconnaissance in the Nancy-Strasbourg area; HQ Ninth AF moves from Sunninghill Park, England to Chantilly; HQ 48th Fighter Group and the 492d and 494th Fighter Squadrons move from Villacoublay to Camrai/ Niergnies with P-47s; HQ 50th Fighter Group and the 10th, 81st and 313th Fighter Squadrons move from Orly to Laon with P-47s; HQ 365th Fighter Group moves from Bretigny to Juvincourt; the 365th, 366th and 367th Fighter Squadrons, 358th Fighter Group, move from Pontorson to Vitry-le-Francois with P-47s; and the 597th and 598th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium), 397th Bombardment Group (Medium), move from Gorges to Dreux with B-26s.
38 Lancasters of Nos 9 and 617 Squadrons and a No 5 Group Mosquito for weather reconnaissance had set out on 11 September to fly to Northern Russia in preparation for this raid on the 45,000 ton battleship Tirpitz, which was at anchor in Kaa Fjord in Northern Norway. 1 aircraft returned to Britain and 6 crash-landed in Russia but their crew members were not seriously hurt. Only 27 Lancasters and a further Lancaster with a cameraman on board were available for the raid on the Tirpitz, which eventually took place on 15 September. 20 aircraft were loaded with the 12,000lb Tallboy bomb and 6 (or 7, the records are not clear) carried several 'Johnny Walker' mines - of 400-500lb weight developed for attacking capital ships moored in shallow water. The attack caught the Tirpitz by surprise and her smoke-screens were late in starting. One Tallboy hit the Tirpitz near the bows and caused considerable damage. The shock caused by the explosion of this bomb, or possibly from other bombs which were near misses, also damaged the battleship's engines. The Germans decided that repairs to make Tirpitz fully seaworthy were not practicable and she was later moved to an anchorage further south in Norway, but only for use as a semi-static heavy artillery battery. These results of the raid were not known in England at the time and further raids against Tirpitz would take place.
None of the Lancasters were shot down on the raid and all returned safely to the airfield in Russia but the No 617 Squadron aircraft of Flying Officer F Levy crashed in Norway while returning to Lossiemouth 2 days later with 11 men on board.
9 RCM sorties and 1 Resistance operation flight were also carried out on 15 September without loss.
490 aircraft - 310 Lancasters, 173 Halifaxes, 7 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 4, 6 and 8 Groups - to Kiel. 4 Halifaxes and 2 Lancasters lost. The evidence of returning crews and of photographs caused Bomber Command to record this as 'a highly concentrated raid' with 'the old town and modern shopping centre devastated'.
Support and 164 aircraft on a diversionary sweep over the North Sea, 27 Mosquitos to Berlin, 9 to Lübeck and 8 to Rheine airfield, 34 RCM sorties, 56 Mosquito patrols, 68 Halifaxes and Lancasters minelaying near Oslo, in the Kattegat and in the River Elbe. 5 aircraft lost - 3 Mosquitos and 1 Stir1ing of No 100 Group and 1 Mosquito from the Berlin raid.
Total effort for the night: 856 sorties, 11 aircraft (1.3 per cent) lost.
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