He flew with a Avro Lancaster (type I, serial ME434, code LS-D).
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force):: 2 missions are flown.
Mission 822: 295 B-17s and 80 P-51s are recalled when they encounter a weather front rising to 30,000 feet (9,144 m) over the North Sea; 1 B-17 attacks Essen; no bombers are lost.
Escort is provided by 41 of 80 P-51s without loss.
36 of 36 P-51s patrol the Siegen, Germany area without loss.
Mission 823: 10 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany during the night without loss.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): 16 B-26s strike the rail siding at Lipp, Germany; weather cancels other operations.
The 39th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, Ninth AF, moves from Valenciennes to Amand, France with F-5s (first mission is 16 Mar).
100 Lancasters of No 3 Group to attack the oil plant at Wanne-Eickel. Only 75 aircraft were able to bomb in wintry conditions which scattered the force. The results of the raid are not known. 1 Lancaster lost.
Goch: 464 aircraft - 292 Halifaxes, 156 Lancasters, 16 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups. 2 Halifaxes lost. This raid was preparing the way for the attack of the British " Corps across the German frontier near the Reichswald. The Germans had included the towns of Goch and Kleve in their strong defences here. The Master Bomber ordered the Main Force to come below the cloud, the estimated base of which was only 5,000ft, and the attack opened very accurately. The raid was stopped after 155 aircraft had bombed, because smoke was causing control of the raid to become impossible. Considerable damage was caused in Goch but most of the inhabitants had probably left the town.
Kleve: 295 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups. 1 Lancaster lost. 285 aircraft bombed at Kleve, which was battered even more than Goch. After the war, Kleve claimed to be the most completely destroyed town in Germany of its size. The British attack, led by the 15th (Scottish) Division, made a successful start a few hours later but quickly ground to a halt because of a thaw, which caused flooding on the few roads available for the advance, and also because of the ruins which blocked the way through Kleve. Lieutenant-General BG Horrocks, the Corps Commander in charge of the attack, later claimed that he had requested that Kleve should only be subjected to an incendiary raid but Bomber Command dropped 1,384 tons of high explosive on the town and no incendiaries.
177 Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked the Dortmund-Ems Canal section near Ladbergen with delayed-action bombs. Later photographs showed that the banks had not been damaged; the bombs had fallen into nearby fields. 3 Lancasters were lost.
38 Mosquitos to Magdeburg, 16 to Mainz and 41 in small numbers to 5 other targets, 63 RCM sorties, 45 Mosquito patrols, 30 Lancasters and 15 Halifaxes minelaying in Kiel Bay. 4 Mosquitos lost - 3 from No 100 Group and 1 from the raid on Mainz.
Total effort for the night: 1,205 sorties, 10 aircraft (0.8 per cent) lost.
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