He flew with a Avro Lancaster (type III, serial ED735, code KC-R).
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): VIII Bomber Command Mission 132. 82 of 102 B-24's hit the Oslo/Kjeller Airfield in Norway; they claim 10-7-5 Luftwaffe aircraft; 9 B-24's are lost, 3 are damaged beyond repair and 10 damaged; casualties are 2 KIA, 9 WIA and 91 MIA.
VIII Bomber Command Mission 133: 5 B-17's drop 980,000 leaflets over Paris, Orleans, Chartres, Rennes and Le Mans, France between 2015 and 2041 hours; no losses or casualties.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): Aircraft of the IX Troop Carrier Command carry paratroops of the US 1O1st Airborne Division in a rehearsal of cross-channel operations. This is the first of an extended series of training exercises to be conducted prior to the Normandy invasion.
HQ 50th Troop Carrier Wing transfers from Cottesmore to Bottesford, England.
66 Lancasters and 17 Halifaxes of No 8 Group on a purely H2S blind-bombing raid to Ludwigshafen without any target indicators being dropped. Few details are available about the results of the bombing but it is believed that the attack was accurate and the IG Farben factory was hit. Because of misleading instructions broadcast from England to the German night-fighter pilots, most of the fighter force landed early and only 1 Lancaster was lost.
21 Mosquitos to Berlin, Bochum, Bonn and Duisburg, 4 OTU sorties.
The 'Battle of Berlin' begins
440 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos were dispatched. Few German fighters intercepted the force. 9 Lancasters were lost, 2.0 per cent of the force. Berlin was completely cloud-covered and both marking and bombing were carried out blindly; Bomber Command could make no assessment of the results.
Major diversionary raid on Mannheim and Ludwigshafen by 395 aircraft - 248 Halifaxes, 114 Stirlings, 33 Lancasters - of Nos 3, 4, 6 and 8 Groups. German fighters successfully engaged the bomber force and 23 aircraft - 12 Halifaxes, 9 Stirlings, 2 Lancasters - were lost, 5.8 per cent of the force.
Cloud was present over the target area and much of the bombing was scattered. 21 people were killed, 154 injured and 7,500 bombed out. Many bombs fell outside the city and the local report lists much damage and loss at farms.This was the last major raid on the much-bombed city of Mannheim for 15 months.
10 Mosquitos to Essen, 6 to Aachen and 6 to Frankfurt, 16 Wellingtons minelaying from Texel to St Nazaire, 7 OTU sorties.
Total effort for the night: 884 sorties, 32 aircraft (3.6 per cent) lost.
This record can also be found on the maps of WW2 History Europe with Google coordinates. You can find the maps by clicking on this link on this location.
There are several possibilities to investigate the flight records on WW2 History Europe. All the flights are plotted on maps, sorted "day by day", "by squadron", "by type aircraft", "by year or month", "by location" and much more! Don't miss this!!!
If you have any information that you want to share, please add your comment at the bottom of this record. Or send your information to [email protected]. This information will be added to the record.
Your photos and your information are very welcome! The young do care and with your help we keep up the good work.
