He flew with a Handley Page Halifax (type II, serial W1182, code NP-L).
466 aircraft - 164 Lancasters, 140 Wellingtons, 96 Halifaxes, 66 Stirlings - carried out Bomber Command's heaviest attack on Lorient during the war. The ordinary squadrons of Bomber Command, not reinforced for a 1,000-bomber type raid, dropped more than 1,000 tons of bombs on a target for the first time. The raid was carried out in clear visibility and considerable further damage was caused to the already battered town of Lorient. 7 aircraft - 3 Wellingtons, 2 Lancasters, 1 Halifax, 1 Stirling - were lost, 1.5 per cent of the force.
2 Mosquitos to Duisburg and Essen, 17 OTU sorties. No losses.
10 Mosquitos to Tours railway yards, which were accurately bombed by 6 aircraft without loss.
243 aircraft - 90 Halifaxes, 85 Wellingtons, 68 Stirlings to Cologne. 9 aircraft - 3 of each type - lost, 3.7 per cent of the force.
The Pathfinder marking was again based on skymarkers dropped by H2S but it was only of limited success. 218 aircraft claimed to have bombed Cologne but local records suggest that less than 50 aircraft hit the target, mostly in the western districts. 2 industrial, 2 agricultural and 97 domestic premises were destroyed. 51 civilians were killed and 135 injured and 25 French workers died when their barracks at an old fort on the western outskirts of Cologne were bombed.
142 Lancasters of 1, 5 and No 8 Groups attacked Milan and carried out concentrated bombing in good visibility. Fires could be seen from l00 miles away on the return flight. No report is available from Milan. Italian defences were usually weak and only 2 Lancasters were lost on this raid.
An unusual story is available, however, about a Lancaster of 101 Squadron, which was attacked by an Italian CR42 fighter just after bombing the target. The Lancaster was set on fire and the two gunners were both seriously injured, although they claimed to have shot down the fighter. The pilot, Sergeant IH Hazard, had to dive 8,000ft to put out the fire and 1 member of the crew mistook instructions and baled out. The remainder of the crew completed the extinguishing of the fire, tended the wounded and eventually reached England. The only officer in the crew, Pilot Officer FW Gates the wireless operator, was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and Sergeant Hazard and the other members of the crew who helped to bring the Lancaster home all received Conspicuous Gallantry Medals, an unusually high number of awards of this decoration. Sergeant Hazard died with his flight engineer and navigator when their Lancaster crashed in a flying accident in Yorkshire less than a month after the Milan incident, and Pilot Officer Gates died when the Lancaster in which he was flying, with another crew, crashed when returning from Dortmund on 5 May 1943; the two air gunners in the crew appear to have survived the war.
4 Pathfinder Lancasters bombed La Spezia docks without loss.
Total effort for the night: 389 sorties, 11 aircraft (2.8 per cent) lost.
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