He flew with a Short Stirling (type III, serial EF136, code QS-).
(Eighth Air Force):: On D-day for Operation STARKEY (a rehearsal for the invasion of France), the Eighth Air Force dispatches a record number of 330 heavy bombers against various targets in France: 1. 87 B-17's are dispatched to the industrial area at Paris; 20 hit the primary target at 0903 hours and 48 hit the secondary target, the Beaumont Suroise Airfield; they claim 16-2-9 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 B-17's are lost and 21 damaged; casualties are 3 WIA and 21 MIA. 2. 63 B-17's are dispatched to Beauvais/Tille Airfield; 59 hit the target at 0816-0819 hours; 6 B-17's are damaged. 3. 37 B-17's are dispatched to Lille/Nord Airfield; all hit the target at 0830-0833 hours; 10 B-17's are damaged; casualties are 2 WIA. 4. 56 B-17's are dispatched to Lille/Vendeville Airfield; 52 hit the target at 0830-0840 hours; 7 B-17's are damaged. 5. 56 B-17's are dispatched to Vitry-en-Artois Airfield; 51 hit the target at 0837-0840; no losses or casualties.
6. 38 B-24's are dispatched to St Omer/Ft Rouge and St Omer/Longuenesse Airfield; 28 hit the target; 3 B-24's are damaged; casualties are 1 WIA. 7. 40 B-24's are dispatched to Abbeville/Drucat Airfield; 35 hit the target; no losses or casualties.
All missions except 7. above are escorted by 215 P-47's. They claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 P-47's are lost; casualties are 1 MIA. Operation STARKEY is a disappointment as the Luftwaffe refuses to commit fighter defenses on a large scale, thus preventing possible destruction of many of their aircraft, which Allied air forces hoped to accomplish. VIII Air Support Command Mission 55: 217 B-26's are dispatched to the coastal defenses around Boulogne, France; 202 hit the targets at 0745-0915 hours; 3 B-26's are lost, 2 are damaged beyond repair and 24 damaged; casualties are 11 KIA, 8 WIA and 19 MIA.
Boulogne gun positions: 257 aircraft - 119 Wellingtons, 112 Stirlings, 16 Mosquitos, 10 Halifaxes. OTU aircraft formed part of this force and 5 B-17s also flew the first American night-bombing sorties of the war with Bomber Command. Nos 4 and No 5 Groups did not take part in the raid. The target was the site of a German long-range gun battery and the marking was mainly provided by Oboe Mosquitos, some of whom were experimenting with a new technique. But the raid was not successful; the marking and the bombing were not accurate and the battery does not appear to have been damaged. No aircraft lost.
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