The 142 Sqdn left from Gransden Lodge at 1944-12-06 at 20:14. Loc or duty Nurnberg

He flew with a de Havilland Mosquito (type XXV, serial KB437, code 4H-F).

Campaign report of the USAAF:

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS

(Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.

Mission 741: 818 bombers and 830 fighters are dispatched to hit oil and rail targets in Germany; all except 9 aircraft bomb using H2X; 4 bombers and 1 fighter are lost:

1. 533 B-17s, in 2 forces, are sent to hit the Leuna oil plant at Merseburg (446); targets of opportunity are Hannover (16), Merseburg (14) and other (24); 4 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 172 damaged; 4 airmen are WIA and 37 MIA.

12 of 12 B-17s fly a screening mission.

Escorting are 534 P-47s and P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA), 1 damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged.

2. 112 of 119 B-24s hit the marshalling yard at Bielefeld; 1 hits a target of opportunity; 52 B-24s are damaged.

Escorting are 94 of 104 P-51s without loss.

3. 140 of 154 B-24s hit Minden Aqueduct; 9 hit the Lockum rail junction; 26 B-24s are damaged.

Escorting are 91 P-47s and P-51s without loss.

4. 28 of 32 P-51s fly a scouting force mission.

Mission 742: 11 of the 4 B-17s and 11 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night.

TACTICAL OPERATIONS

(Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 154 A-20s and B-26s bomb the defended areas of Munstereifel, Erkelenz, Nideggen, and Daun; fighters escort the bombers, fly armed reconnaissance and night patrol, attack bridges, gun positions, and other targets, and provide air cover for the US V, VII, and XII Corps in the areas of Sarreguemines, France and Bergstein, and Lucherberg, and along the Saar River, Germany.

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Campaign report of the RAF:

5/6 December 1944

497 aircraft - 385 Halifaxes, 100 Lancasters, 12 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4, 6 and 8 Groups dispatched to Soest. 2 Halifaxes lost. This was a successful raid, with the local report confirming that most of the bombing was in the northern part of the town where the railway installations were situated.

53 Mosquitos to Ludwigshafen, 32 to Nuremberg and 4 to Duisburg, 36 RCM sorties, 40 Mosquito patrols, 1 Stirling on a Resistance operation. No aircraft lost.

Total effort for the night: 663 sorties, 2 aircraft (0.3 per cent) lost.

6 December 1944

1 Hudson flew a Resistance operation.

6/7 December 1944

Leuna: 475 Lancasters and 12 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3 and 8 Groups. 5 Lancasters lost. This was the first major attack on an oil target in Eastern Germany; Leuna, near the town of Merseburg, just west of Leipzig, was 250 miles from the German frontier and 500 miles from the bombers' bases in England. There was considerable cloud in the target area but post-raid photographs showed that considerable damage had been caused to the synthetic-oil plant.

Osnabrück: 453 aircraft - 363 Halifaxes, 72 Lancasters, 18 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4, 6 and 8 Groups. 7 Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster lost. This was the first major raid on Osnabrück since August 1942. The raid was only a partial success. The railway yards were only slightly damaged but 4 factories were hit, including the Teuto-Metallwerke munitions factory, and 203 houses were destroyed.

Giessen: 255 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of No 5 Group. 8 Lancasters lost. There were two aiming points for this raid. 168 aircraft were allocated to the town centre and 87 to the railway yards. Severe damage was caused at both places.

42 Mosquitos to Berlin, 10 to Schwerte and 2 to Hanau, 37 RCM sorties, 47 Mosquito patrols. 2 Mosquitos lost - 1 from the Berlin raid and an Intruder aircraft which crashed in France.

Total effort for the night: 1,343 sorties, 23 aircraft (1.7 per cent) lost.

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