He flew with a Short Stirling (type I, serial N3712, code HA-Y).
The Bellincourt Renault Factory
The Renault factory, in the town of Boulogne-Billancourt just west of the centre of Paris, was making an estimated 18,000 lorries a year for the German forces. 235 aircraft - 89 Wellingtons, 48 Hampdens, 29 Stirlings, 26 Manchesters, 23 Whitleys, 20 Halifaxes - were dispatched in 3 waves, the crews of the leading wave being selected for their experience. The plan called for the massed use of flares and a very low bombing level so that crews could hit the factory without too many bombs falling in the surrounding town. There were no Flak defences. 223 aircraft bombed the target, reporting excellent results. Only 1 Wellington was lost. The main raid lasted 1 hour and 50 minutes. Many records were broken that night. The number of aircraft sent to this one target - 235 - was the greatest by the R.A.F. to a single target so far in the war; the previous record was 229 to Kiel on 7/8 April 1941. The concentration of bombers over the target - averaging 121 per hour - exceeded Bomber Command's previous best rate of 80 per hour; there were no collisions. A record tonnage of bombs was dropped, although the exact tonnage is in doubt, official records giving 412 and 470 tons. A significant tactical point was the mass use of flares and the selection of some experienced crews to open the raid, thus foreshadowing some of the 'pathfinding' methods to be used later in the war. Gee was not used, being not yet ready for operations. The raid was considered a great success and the destruction caused in the factory received much publicity. Unfortunately, French civilian casualties were heavy. There were many blocks of workers' apartments very close to the factory.
Minor Operations: 4 Wellingtons to Emden, 4 Blenheim Intruders to Dutch airfields but these were recalled. 4 Lancasters minelaying off the north-west German coast, 2 Whitleys on leaflet flights to France. 1 Wellington lost on the Emden raid.
Total effort for the night: 249 sorties, 2 aircraft (0.8 per cent) lost. The Lancaster mining sorties, flown by 44 Squadron, saw the introduction into operational service this new type of aircraft.
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