He flew with a Handley Page Halifax (type III, serial LW681, code MP-T).
The first V-1 "buzz bomb" lands in S England; more land during the night of 13/14 Jun, and throughout the rest of the month.
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): Bad weather cancels large-scale bombing of high priority targets in Germany; overcast bombing against tactical targets in NW France is undertaken: Mission 409: In the first mission of the day cloud cover is less than anticipated and visual runs are made by 129 of 139 B-17s against Evreux/ Fauville Airfield (37 bomb), Dreux Airfield (52 bomb) and St Andre de L'Eure (40 bomb); 30 B-17s are damaged; escort is provided by 101 of 113 P-51s dispatched; they claim 4-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft.
Mission 410: In the second mission, 112 B-17s and 260 B-24s are dispatched:
1. B-17s to Beaumont-sur-Oise Airfield (41 bomb) and Beauvais/Nivelliers Airfield (56 bomb); 15 B-17s are damaged.
2. 148 B-24s to Dinard/Pleurtuit Airfield (10 bomb), Ploermel Bridge (26 bomb), Vannes Bride (19 bomb), Vicomte-sur-Rance Bridge (24 bomb), Montfort- sur-Meu Bridge (21 bomb), Porcaro Bridge (12 bomb) and 3 others hit targets of opportunity; 2 B-24s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 16 damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 19 MIA.
Escort for Mission 410 is provided by 12 P-38s, 47 P-47s and 174 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost and the pilot is MIA.
Other fighter sorties during the day are:
1. 97 P-38s are dispatched on fighter-bomber missions (58 bomb) and 17 hit La Poissonniere Montjean; 2 P-38s are lost and the pilots are MIA.
2. 199 P-47s are dispatched to La Port Boulet (90 attack), Montlouis (24 attack), transport targets (33 attack) and Chinon (31 attack); they claim 2-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-47 is lost and 1 damaged beyond repair; 2 pilots are MIA.
3. 35 P-51s fly escort for fighter bombers.
4. 12 P-38s and 35 P-47s escort Ninth Air Force bombers.
5. 62 of 64 P-38s fly patrol over the English Channel.
Mission 411: 8 of 8 B-17s drop leaflets on France during the night.
6 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions over France.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): In France, 397 B-26s and A-20s bomb rail and road junctions, marshalling yards and fuel dumps in the assault areas; aircraft of 9 fighter groups escort the bombers and attack bridges, marshalling yards, troop areas, rail and road traffic, gun emplacements, ammunition dumps and other targets.
305th and 306th Troop Carrier Squadrons, 442d Troop Carrier Group, move from Fulbeck to Weston Zoyland, England with C-47s.
671 aircraft - 348 Halifaxes, 285 Lancasters, 38 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 5, 6 and 8 Groups to attack communications, mostly railways, at Amiens/St Roch, Amiens/Longueau, Arras, Caen, Cambrai and Poitiers. (It is interesting to note that, with the exception of Caen, all of these targets were the sites of well-known battles of earlier wars and Caen was soon to be the scene of fierce fighting.) Bomber Command's records state that the Poitiers attack, by No 5 Group, was the most accurate of the night and that the 2 raids at Amiens and the raid at Arras were of reasonable accuracy. The target at Cambrai was hit but many bombs also fell in the town. The most scattered attack (also by No 5 Group) was at Caen. 23 aircraft - 17 Halifaxes and 6 Lancasters - were lost from these raids; all of these losses were from Nos 4 and 6 Groups.
A Canadian airman, Pilot Officer Andrew Charles Mynarski from Winnipeg, was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for his bravery on the Cambrai raid. His Lancaster, of No 419 Squadron, was attacked by a night fighter and set on fire and the crew were ordered to abandon the aircraft. Mynarski was about to jump when he saw that the tail gunner was trapped in his turret and he went through fierce flames to help. The rear turret was so badly it jammed that it could not be freed and the trapped gunner eventually waved Mynarski away. By the time he left the aircraft, Mynarski's clothing and parachute were on fire and he died while being cared for by French civilians soon after he landed. The tail gunner was fortunate to survive the crash and his report on Mynarski's courage led to the award of the Victoria Cross. Pilot Officer Mynarski is buried in the small village cemetery at Meharicourt, east of Amiens.
303 aircraft - 286 Lancasters and 17 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3 and 8 Groups - carried out the first raid of the new oil campaign; the target was the Nordstern synthetic-oil plant at Gelsenkirchen (the Germans called the plant Gelsenberg AG). 17 Lancasters were lost, 6.1 per cent of the Lancaster force. The attack opened with exceptional accuracy owing to good work by the Pathfinders and to improved versions of Oboe sets now available. Later phases of the bombing were spoiled by the clouds of smoke from the burning target and by a rogue target indicator which fell 10 miles short of the target and was bombed by 35 aircraft. A German industrial report shows that all production at the oil plant ceased, with a loss of 1,000 tons of aviation fuel a day for several weeks, as well as the loss of other fuels.
27 Mosquitos to Cologne, 3 RCM sorties, 39 Serrate and 13 Intruder patrols, 9 Halifaxes and 5 Stirlings minelaying off Brest and St Nazaire, 13 aircraft on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost.
Total effort for the night: 1,083 sorties, 40 aircraft (3.7 per cent) lost.
8 Mosquitos to Münchengladbach and 3 to Düren, 15 Serrate patrols, 8 Stirlings and 4 Lancasters minelaying off Brest and St Nazaire, 2 Halifaxes on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost.
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