He flew with a Avro Lancaster (type I, serial PB674, code HA-Q).
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 748: 895 bombers and 928 fighters are dispatched to make a H2X attack on Merseburg, Germany and visual attacks on rail targets in Germany; 4 bombers and 7 fighters are lost:
1. 337 of 380 B-17s hit the Leuna synthetic oil plant at Merseburg, 10 hit the secondary, Nordhausen and 12 hit targets of opportunity; 1 B-17 is lost and 25 damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 10 MIA.
Escorting are 392 of 447 P-51s; they claim 0-0-1 aircraft on the ground; 7 P-51s are lost (6 pilots MIA) and 2 damaged beyond repair.
2. 378 B-24s are sent to hit the Hanau (270) and Aschaffenburg (69) marshalling yards; 17 hit the secondary, Gelnhausen and 8 hit a last resort target, the marshalling yard at Friedburg; 3 B-24s are lost and 45 damaged; 11 airmen are KIA and 20 MIA.
Escorting are 193 P-47s and P-51s; 1 P-47 is damaged beyond repair.
3. 461 of 497 B-17s hit the marshalling yard at Darmstadt, 9 hit a last resort target, Dieburg and 4 hit a target of opportunity; 2 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 7 damaged.
Escort is provided by 214 P-47s and P-51s without loss.
4. 15 of 20 B-17s and B-24s fly a screening mission.
5. 32 of 32 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
Mission 749: 7 B-24s and 4 B-17s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 90 B-26s and A-20s strike the defended villages of Gemund, Harperscheid, Hellenthal, Schleiden, Schoneseiffen, and Wollseifen, and the towns of Dorsel, Mayen, and Wiesbaden; fighters fly armed reconnaissance and strafing and bombing missions in W Germany and support the US 83d Infantry Division in the Strass-Gey area, cover the VII Corps in the Duren area and support the XII and XX Corps in the Habkirchen and Bliesbruck areas (the 35th Infantry Division assault across the Blies River) and Saarlautern-Dillengen.
38 Mosquitos to Hannover, 28 to Hamburg, 9 to Schwerte, 8 to Bielefeld and 6 to Duisburg. 1 aircraft lost from the Hamburg raid.
140 Lancasters of No 3 Group on a G-H raid to the Ruhrstahl steelworks at Witten. German fighters intercepted the force in the target area and 8 Lancasters were lost. It was the town's first major raid of the war. The steelworks were not hit and bombs fell all over the town, destroying 126 houses and 5 industrial premises.
Essen: 540 aircraft - 349 Lancasters, 163 Halifaxes, 28 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4 and 8 Groups. 6 Lancasters lost. This was the last heavy night raid by Bomber Command on Essen. During the post-war interrogations of Albert Speer, Hitler's Armaments Minister, he was asked which forms of attack were most effective in weakening the German war effort. After referring to the effectiveness of daylight raids and to some of the Oboe Mosquito attacks, Speer paid a compliment to the accuracy of this raid on Essen: "The last night attack upon the Krupp works, which was carried out by a large number of 4-engined bombers, caused surprise on account of the accuracy of the bomb pattern. We assumed that this attack was the first large-scale operation based on Oboe or some other new navigational system."
49 Mosquitos to Osnabrück, 43 RCM sorties, 43 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.
Total effort for the night: 675 sorties, 6 aircraft (0.9 per cent) lost.
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