He flew with a Avro Lancaster (type I, serial LM281, code HA-E).
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force):: 2 missions are flown.
Mission 809: With the prospect of improved weather over Germany, 1,006 bombers and 249 fighters are dispatched to hit marshalling yards, bridges and benzol plants at Dortmund; 10 bombers are lost:
1. 225 B-24s are sent to hit oil targets at Kaiserstuhl (115) and Gneisenau (58); targets of opportunity are Lippstadt (9), Neheim (5) and other (11); bombing is by Gee-H; 7 B-24s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 97 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 7 WIA and 71 MIA.
Escorting are 68 of 77 P-51s.
2. 421 B-17s are sent to hit the Gremberg marshalling yard at Cologne (273) and the Hohenzollern Bridge at Cologne (69); secondary targets are Gutersloh (31) and Bielefeld (7); 3 others hit a target of opportunity; Gee-H and H2X radar are used to bomb; 3 B-17s are lost and 172 damaged; 4 airmen are WIA and 35 MIA.
The escort is 69 of 76 P-51s.
3. 360 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Hohenbudberg marshalling yard (169) and Rheinhausen Bridge at Duisburg (80); 10 hit the secondary, the highway bridge at Duisburg; targets of opportunity are Friemersheim (13) and other (2); some targets are hit visually while others are hit using Micro H; 2 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 195 damaged; 14 airmen are KIA and 20 WIA.
35 of 38 P-51s escort the B-17s.
4. 40 P-51s fly a sweep of the tactical area escorting Ninth AF B-26s.
5. 13 of 18 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
Mission 810: 2 B-17s and 6 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany during the night.
The 328th, 486th and 487th Fighter Squadrons, 352d Fighter Group, move from Bodney, England to Chievres, Belgium with P-51s (detachments have been operating from Asch, Belgium since 23 Dec 44).
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 95 9th Bombardment Division B-26s hit a communications center at Mayen, rail bridges and an overpass at Eller, Sinzig, Remagen, and Kaiserslautern, targets of opportunity in W Germany, and fly cover for US First Army forces on the frontline in the Monschau-Butgenbach area.
12 Mosquitos to Berlin: 8 bombed this target and 3 bombed alternative targets. No aircraft lost.
153 Lancasters of No 3 Group attacked the railway yards at Cologne/Gremberg in conditions of good visibility. Some of the bombing fell on the target but some overshot. 3 Lancasters were lost and 1 crashed in France.
602 aircraft - 316 Halifaxes, 258 Lancasters, 28 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4, 6 and 8 Groups dispatched to 2 targets in the Stuttgart area. 11 aircraft - 6 Lancasters, 4 Halifaxes, 1 Mosquito - lost. This raid was split into 2 parts, with a 3-hour interval. The first force - 226 aircraft - was directed against the important railway yards at Kornwestheim, a town to the north of Stuttgart, and the second was against the north-western Stuttgart suburb of Zuffenhausen, where the target is believed to have been the Hirth aero-engine factory. The target area was mostly cloud-covered for both raids and the bombing, on skymarkers, was scattered. Bombs fell in many parts of Stuttgart's northern and western suburbs. The important Bosch works, in the suburb of Feuerbach, was hit. A large number of bombs fell outside Stuttgart, particularly in the east around a decoy fire site which was also firing dummy target-indicator rockets into the air. The village of Weilimdorf, situated not far away, complained bitterly about its damage and casualties! This was the last large RAF raid on Stuttgart. Stuttgart's experience was not as severe as other German cities. Its location, spread out in a series of deep valleys, had consistently frustrated the Pathfinders and the shelters dug into the sides of the surrounding hills had saved many lives.
67 Mosquitos to Berlin and 8 to Mainz (a 'spoof' raid for the Stuttgart attacks), 51 RCM sorties, 36 Mosquito patrols, 6 Lancasters of No 1 Group minelaying in the Kattegat. 1 Mosquito of No 100 Group crashed in France.
Total effort for the night: 770 sorties, 12 aircraft (1.6 per cent) lost.
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