He flew with a Avro Lancaster (type III, serial PB335, code EA-B).
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 754: 985 bombers and 773 fighters are dispatched to hit communication and tactical targets in Germany using PFF; 4 fighters are lost:
1. Extensive cloud formations force the recall of 358 B-24s without loss.
Escorting are 103 of 110 P-51s.
2. 385 B-17s are sent to hit the Kalk marshalling yard at Cologne (32); secondary targets hit are the Lutzel marshalling yard at Koblenz (102) and Kaiserslautern (74) marshalling yard; 11 hit Bonn, a last resort target; 1 B-17 is damaged.
The escort is 110 of 116 P-51s; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA).
3. 157 of 220 B-17s hit the marshalling yard at Mainz; 13 others hit targets of opportunity; 1 B-17 is lost and 2 damaged beyond repair; 1 airman is MIA.
Escort is provided by 150 of 162 P-51s without loss.
4. 22 of 22 B-17s fly a screening mission.
5. 255 P-47s and P-51s fly a fighter sweep in W Germany; they claim 3-0-0 aircraft; 1 P-47 and 1 P-51 are lost (pilots MIA).
6. 29 of 31 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
Mission 755: 4 B-17s and 9 B-24s are sent to drop leaflets in France, Germany and the Netherlands during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 160+ A-26s, A-20s, and B-26s hit defended positions at Harperscheid, Hellenthal, Blumenthal, Dreiborn, and Herhahn; fighters fly sweeps and armed reconnaissance over W Germany (claiming 40+ enemy airplanes downed plus hitting numerous ground targets) and support the US 2d, 4th, 28th, and 106th Infantry Divisions W of Butgenbach and W of Trier; SE of Clervaux, Luxembourg; and SE of Saint-Vith, Belgium; and the XII Corps at Niedergailbach; the IX Tactical Air Command hits Panzer units spearheading the Bulge.
In Belgium, the detachments of the 30th Photographic Reconnaissance and 107th and 109th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadrons, 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group, operating from Florennes Juzaine and Chievres with F-5s and F-6s respectively, return to base at Gosselies; the 153d Liaison Squadron, IX Tactical Air Command (attached to Twelfth Army Group), based at Spa with L-5s, begins operating from Liege.
Duisburg: 523 aircraft - 418 Halifaxes, 8, Lancasters, 24 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups. 8 Halifaxes lost. Duisburg was badly hit again.
Ulm: 317 Lancasters and 13 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups. 2 Lancasters lost. This was Bomber Command's first and only raid on Ulm, an old city but also the home of 2 large lorry factories - Magirius-Deutz and Kässbohrer - several other important industries and some military barracks and depots. 1,449 tons of bombs were dropped during the 25-minute raid, starting in the centre and then creeping back to the west, across the industrial and railway areas and out into the country. The Gallwitz Barracks and several military hospitals were among 14 Wehrmacht establishments destroyed.
Munich: 280 Lancasters and 8 Mosquitos of No 5 Group. 4 Lancasters lost. Bomber Command claimed 'severe and widespread damage' in the old centre of Munich and at railway targets.
44 Mosquitos to Hanau (a 'spoof' raid), 26 to Münster and 5 to Hallendorf, 44 RCM sorties, 50 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.
Total effort for the night: 1,310 sorties, 14 aircraft (1.1 per cent) lost.
236 Lancasters of No 5 Group attacked the distant port of Gdynia on the Baltic coast and caused damage to shipping, installations and housing in the port area. 4 Lancasters lost.
40 Mosquitos to Nuremberg and 16 to Münster, 34 RCM sorties, 11 Mosquito patrols, 14 Lancasters of No 5 Group minelaying in Danzig Bay. 1 Mosquito Intruder lost.
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