He flew with a Avro Lancaster (type I, serial NK972, code OJ-H).
AIRBORNE OPERATIONS
(IX Troop Carrier Command): HQ 52d Troop Carrier Wing moves from Cottesmore, England to Amiens, France.
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force):: 3 missions are flown.
Mission 865: 429 bombers and 689 fighters are dispatched to hit oil targets in Germany; the primary target for the B-17s is the synthetic oil plant at Ruhland but weather forces them to hit the secondary target; all bombing is with H2X radar; 1 B-17 is lost:
1. 233 of 303 B-17s hit the secondary target, the marshalling yard at Chemnitz; targets of opportunity are Plauen (34) and Fulda (9); 1 B-17 is lost and 15 damaged; 9 airmen are MIA.
Escorting are 369 of 420 P-51s; 3 P-51s are damaged beyond repair and 1 pilot is KIA.
2. 120 of 126 B-24s hit the Harburg oil refinery at Hamburg without loss.
The escort is 186 P-47s and P-51s without loss.
3. 27 P-51s attack the marshalling yard at Kreuztal; 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair.
4. 28 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
5. 14 P-51s escort 4 F-5s on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany.
Mission 866: 21 of 24 B-24s bomb the Wiesbaden rail station by PFF markers during the night.
Mission 867: 9 of 11 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 565 B-26s, A-20s and A-26s attack 6 marshalling yards, a communications center, an ordnance depot, a city area and targets of opportunity with the aim of obstructing reinforcements and supplies to German forces being pushed back across the Rhine River; fighters escort the bombers, drop leaflets in the Cologne-Bonn area, and fly armed reconnaissance over the Ruhr and Hamm-Duisburg area.
31 Mosquitos to Berlin, 24 to Essen and 28 in small numbers to 5 ports in Northern Germany, 6 Mosquito patrols, 12 Halifaxes minelaying off Heligoland, 16 aircraft on Resistance operations. 2 Stirlings on Resistance operations were lost.
170 Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out a G-H attack on the Consolidation benzol plant at Gelsenkirchen. No results were seen. 1 Lancaster lost.
Chemnitz; 760 aircraft - 498 Lancasters, 256 Halifaxes, 6 Mosquitos - to continue Operation Thunderclap. The operation started badly when 9 aircraft of No 6 Group crashed near their bases soon after taking off in icy conditions. No 426 Squadron, at Linton-on-Ouse, lost 3 out of their 14 Halifaxes taking part in the raid in this way, with only 1 man surviving. 1 of the Halifaxes crashed in York, killing some civilians. 22 further aircraft were lost in the main operation - 14 Lancasters and 8 Halifaxes.
248 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked the synthetic-oil refinery at Böhlen. The target area was covered by cloud but some damage was caused to the refinery. 4 Lancasters lost.
75 Mosquitos to Berlin, 15 to Gelsenkirchen and 36 in small numbers to 6 other targets, 52 RCM sorties, 27 Mosquito patrols. 5 aircraft lost - 2 Mosquito bombers from the Berlin raid, 1 Mosquito lost from a small raid to Hallendorf, 2 RCM aircraft (1 Halifax and 1 Stirling, of which the latter was believed to have been shot down over France by an American artillery unit).
Total effort for the night: 1,223 sorties, 31 aircraft (2.5 per cent) lost and 10 more crashed in England.
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