He flew with a Avro Lancaster (type X, serial KB715, code VR-T).
AIRBORNE OPERATIONS
(IX Troop Carrier Command): 160 C-47s drop 160 tons of supplies at Bastogne, Belgium.
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 759: 10 of 12 B-24s hit the La Pallice coastal battery in France without loss.
Mission 760: A high pressure front across W Europe brings clear weather and the Eighth AF launches a maximum effort against airfields and communications in W Germany; this was the largest air strike of WWII; 2,034 bombers and 853 fighters are dispatched; they claim 92-6-21 Luftwaffe aircraft; 12 bombers and 10 fighters are lost:
1. 858 B-17s are dispatched to hit airfields at Darmstadt (189), Frankfurt- Rheine (143), Bilbis (100), Babenhausen (96), Zellhausen (85) and Gross Ostheim (60); secondary targets hit are marshalling yards at Pforzheim (37) and Kaiserslautern (24) and Haildraum (60); 26 targets of opportunity are hit by 37 B-17s; they claim 18-5-1 aircraft; 8 B-17s are lost, 11 damaged beyond repair and 337 damaged; 15 airmen are KIA, 21 WIA and 76 MIA.
Escorting are 343 of 358 P-51s; they claim 53-0-6 aircraft; 7 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair.
2. 542 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Merzhausen air depot (198) and airfields at Giessen (74), Kirchgons (54), Nidda (53) and Ettinghausen (43); secondary targets hit are Koblenz (42), Darmstadt (7), Kaiserslautern (5) and Babenhausen (4); 20 B-17s hit a target of opportunity; 2 B-17s are lost, 9 damaged beyond repair and 109 damaged; 21 airmen are KIA, 23 WIA and 18 MIA.
Escort is provided by 350 of 368 P-51s; they claim 13-1-13 aircraft; 3 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair.
3. 634 B-24s are dispatched to hit Euskirchen (62), Wittlich (62), Gerolstein (59), Mayen (59), Ahrweiller (54), Bitburg (35), Eller (32), Pfazel (28), Ruwer (27), Schonecken (26), Rheinbach (25), Daun (24), Wetteldorf (18), and Cochem (11); 75 others hit 18 targets of opportunity; 2 B-24s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 150 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 5 WIA and 20 MIA.
Escorting are 87 of 92 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 4-0-0 aircraft without loss.
4. 24 of 24 P-51s fly a scouting mission; they claim 3-0-1 aircraft without loss.
5. 9 of 11 P-51s escort 9 Spitfires and 8 F-5s on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft without loss.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): 276 B-26s and A-20s hit rail bridges and communications centers in W Germany; fighters escort the 9th Bombardment Division, fly armed reconnaissance, and support the US III, VIII, and XII Corps along the S battleline of the Bulge, stretching from Echternach, Luxembourg to the area NW of Neufchateau, Belgium as the 4th Armored Division reaches the enemy's ring around Bastogne.
The 160th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group, based at Le Culot, Belgium with F-6s and P-51s, begins operating from Conflans, France.
52 Mosquitos to Limburg railway yards, 40 to Siegburg and 7 on 'training flights' to Bremen, Hannover, Münster and Osnabrück, 62 aircraft of No 100 Group on RCM and Mosquito operations, 6 aircraft on Resistance operations. No aircraft were lost. Each of the Mosquitos shown as being on 'training flights' visited all 4 targets and dropped 1 bomb on each; these operations later became known as 'siren-sounding tours'.
338 aircraft - 248 Halifaxes, 79 Lancasters, 11 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups attacked the airfields at Lohausen and Mülheim (now Düsseldorf and Essen civil airports). The purpose of the raids was not recorded; it is possible that they were to hinder the movement of supplies by transport aircraft from the Ruhr to the Ardennes battle area. Both attacks took place in conditions of good visibility and the bombing was accurate. 6 aircraft lost - 2 Lancasters and 1 Halifax from the Lohausen raid and 3 Halifaxes from the Mülheim raid.
104 Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out an accurate attack on Hangelar airfield near Bonn. 1 Lancaster lost. No results are known.
Cologne/Nippes: 97 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups. 5 Lancasters were lost and 2 more crashed in England. The Oboe marking and the resultant bombing were extremely accurate. The railway tracks were severely damaged and an ammunition train blown up. The nearby Butzweilerhof airfield was also damaged.
2 Mosquitos to Münster, 42 RCM sorties, 42 Mosquito patrols, 12 Halifaxes of No 6 Group minelaying off Oslo, 8 aircraft on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost.
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