He flew with a Handley Page Halifax (type III, serial LW656, code MP-B).
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): Mission 435: at midday 110 of 134 B-17s and 102 of 106 B-24s attack 12 CROSSBOW (V-weapon) installations, damaging at least 6 of them; 3 B-17s and 2 B-24s are damaged.
Fighter support is furnished by 4 P-51 groups (141 of 161 aircraft) all of which afterward strafe transportation targets in the Paris area, destroying 3 locomotives, 100 pieces of rolling stock, and 14 motor vehicles; An exploding ammunition train causes a low-flying P-51 to crash, the only aircraft lost on the mission (pilot is MIA).
Mission 436: During the late afternoon, 109 B-17s are dispatched to Nanteuil; 13 hit the primary and 2 hit targets of opportunity; the rest abort due to heavy cloud cover; 1 B-17 is lost and 2 are damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 10 MIA.
Of 219 B-24s dispatched to airfields in France, 113 hit Juvincourt, 46 hit Laon/Athies, 23 hit Coulommiers and 1 hits Soissons; 6 B-24s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 81 are damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 3 WIA and 58 MIA.
Escort is provided by 155 P-47s and 83 P-51s; afterwards part of a P-47 group bombs and strafes a marshalling yard while the remainder of the group bombs and strafes a train carrying trucks and armored cars, destroying the locomotive, 3 trucks, and an armored car, and damaging 20 freight 169 of 195 P-38s fly flighter-bomber missions in the Paris area; 2 P-38s are lost (pilots are MIA.
21 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER mission during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): Bad weather prevents A-20 and B-26 missions during the morning; in the afternoon 175+ B-26s and A-20s bomb 7 V-weapon sites in France; around 630 fighters provide escort and also bomb and strafe rail and road traffic and communications centers; 200 C-47s and C-53s fly supplies to the Continent; and 404th Fighter Squadron, 371st Fighter Group, moves from Bisterne, England to Beuzeville with P-47s.
221 aircraft- 111 Lancasters, 100 Halifaxes, 10 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4 and 8 Groups attacked railway yards at Laon and Rheims. 4 Halifaxes lost from the Laon raid and 4 Lancasters from the Rheims raid. The bombing at both targets was successful.
29 Mosquitos to Hamburg and 8 to Rouen, 15 RCM sorties, 35 Mosquito patrols, 6 Halifaxes and 4 Stirlings minelaying off French ports. No aircraft lost.
2 Mosquitos on uneventful Ranger patrols.
412 aircraft - 226 Lancasters, 164 Halifaxes, 22 Mosquitos - of Nos 3, 4, 6 and 8 Groups attacked 4 flying-bomb sites, which were all hit. 5 Lancasters lost.
203 Lancasters and 4 Mosquitos of No 1 and 5 Groups attacked railway yards at Limoges and Saintes. Both targets were bombed with great accuracy. 2 Lancasters of No 1 Group were lost from the Saintes raid.
32 Mosquitos to Bremen and 10 to a railway junction at Doves near Amiens, 14 RCM sorties, 27 Mosquito patrols, 12 aircraft minelaying off French ports. 1 Stirling lost from the minelaying force.
Total effort for the night: 714 sorties, 8 aircraft (1.1 per cent) lost.
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