He flew with a Handley Page Halifax (type III, serial NA513, code EY-O).
18 July 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): Mission 481: 1,394 bombers and 476 fighters are dispatched to hit targets in Germany and tactical targets in France; 3 bombers and 3 fighters are lost:
1. 644 B-24s are dispatched, in conjunction with Ninth Air Force and RAF Bomber Command, to bomb enemy equipment and troop concentrations in support of the assault by the British Second Army in the Caen area; 249 hit Solier, 146 hit Frenouville, 139 hit Troarns, 23 hit Hubert la Folie and 12 hit the Mezidon marshalling yard; 1 B-24 is lost, 2 are damaged beyond repair and 182 are damaged.
90 RAF Spitfires fly uneventful support for the B-24s.
2. Of 291 B-17s, 107 hit the Kiel port area, 55 hit the Hemminstedt oil refinery and 54 hit Cuxhaven; 21 B-17s are damaged.
Escort is provided by 48 P-38s and 84 P-51s without loss.
3. Of 459 B-17s, 377 hit the Peenemunde experimental establishment, scientific HQ at Zinnowitz, and marshalling yards at Stralsund; 3 B-17s are lost and 64 damaged.
Escort is provided by 297 P-38s and P-51s; they claim 21-0-12 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 P-51s are lost (2 pilot are MIA) and 1 is damaged beyond repair.
25 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions in France during the night; 1 B-24 collides with an RAF aircraft over France and is lost.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): In France, 400+ B-26s and A-20s hit various military targets in support of the ground forces in the Caen area, and later in the day bomb rail and highway bridges beyond the frontlines; large number of fighters fly escort, dive-bomb gun positions at Rouen and Mantes-la-Jolie, hit military targets in the Chartres area (using rockets), attack gun positions, bridges, and other targets in the Benney-Alencon-Saint- Lo area, and fly armed reconnaissance and fighter sweeps over wide areas of N and W France.
In England, HQ 98th Combat Bombardment Wing (Medium) moves from Earls Colne to Beaulieu; and HQ 387th Bombardment Group (Medium) moves from Chipping Ongar to Stony Cross.
The following squadrons, based in England, begin operating from bases in Italy with C-47s: - 91st, 92d and 94th Troop Carrier Squadrons, 439th Troop Carrier Group, based at Upottery operating from Orbetello Airfield.
- 95th, 96th and 97th Troop Carrier Squadrons, 440th Troop Carrier Group, based at Exeter operating from Ombrone Airfield. - 99th, 100th and 302d Troop Carrier Squadrons, 441st Troop Carrier Group, based at Merryfield operating from Grosseto.
- 303d, 304th and 305th Troop Carrier Squadrons, 442d Troop Carrier Group, based at Weston Zoyland operating from Follonica.
19 July 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): Mission 482: 1,082 of 1,242 B-17s and B-24s and 670 of 761 P-38s, P-47s, and P-51s dispatched, operating in 5 forces, attack targets in W and SW Germany including 2 plants producing hydrogen peroxide (an ingredient in V-weapon fuels), a chemical plant, 2 aircraft factories, 4 ball bearing plants, 6 marshalling yards, 4 airfields, and a river dam; 17 bombers and 7 fighters are lost.
Attacks in the the Munich area are followed, within 90 minutes, by Fifteenth Air Force attacks.
731 fighters, operating in 19 separate units support the bombers; 8 of these units afterwards strafe ground targets, including parked aircraft, locomotives and rolling stock, and road vehicles.
The bombers claim 6-4-4 Luftwaffe aircraft; the fighters claim 17-0-4 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 38-0-14 on the ground. Mission 483: 5 of 5 B-17s drop leaflets in France and Belgium during the night.
5 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): In France, during the afternoon 262 B-26s and A-20s bomb bridges on the Loire and Seine Rivers and a fuel dump at Bruz; fighters provide escort and, though limited by bad weather, hit rail lines and scattered enemy installations and movements in the Amiens-Tours- Chartres area and along the Ghent-Brussels, Belgium railroad; HQ 373d Fighter Group arrives at Tour-en-Bassin from Woodchurch, England; and the 513th Fighter Squadron, 406th Fighter Group, moves from Ashford, England to Tour- en-Bassin with P-47s.
The 83d, 84th, 85th and 86th Troop Carrier Squadrons, 437th Troop Carrier Group, based at Ramsbury, England begin operating from Montala Airfield, Italy with C-47s.
194 aircraft - 111 Halifaxes, 77 Lancasters, 6 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 6 and 8 Groups to attack the synthetic-oil plant ar Wessling. 1 Halifax lost. A useful German report from Wesseling shows that this was a very successful raid and a credit to the Pathfinder marking. Approximately 1,000 high-explosive bombs fell inside the area of the plant in 20 minutes. 20 per cent of the installations were destroyed but, because some important buildings were particularly hard-hit, the loss of production was greater than this figure. 600 workmen were present on the night shift but they had good air-raid shelters and only 3 were killed. The nearby town was also hit and 151 houses were destroyed, many of them being in the estate for the oil-plant workers. The people here must also have been provided with good shelters because only 8 German people were killed. The local report stresses that no children of school age were among the casualties; the local school had been evacuated to Silesia a few weeks earlier. Foreign workers and prisoners of war in a nearby camp probably had poorer air-raid shelters; 22 foreign workers and 9 prisoners of war died.
157 Lancasters and 13 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups attacked the oil plant at Scholven/Buer. 4 Lancasters lost.
This was also a successful raid. The local report says that 550 bombs fell in the plant area, although 233 of them did not explode. Production came to 'a complete standstill for a long period'.
253 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3, 5 and 8 Groups attacked railway junctions at Aulnoye and Revigny. Both targets were hit and the railway lines to the battle front were cut. 2 Lancasters were lost on the Aulnoye raid but the No 5 Group raid to Revigny was caught by German fighters and 24 Lancasters were shot down, nearly 22 per cent of the Lancasters involved. No 619 Squadron, from Dunholme Lodge, lost 5 of its 13 aircraft taking part in the raid.
62 aircraft - 51 Halifaxes, 9 Mosquitos, 2 Lancasters - of 4 and 8 Groups bombed a flying-bomb launching site at Acquet but photographs indicated that no new damage was caused. 2 Halifaxes lost.
Support and 115 aircraft - 86 Wellingtons, 19 Stirlings, 10 Halifaxes - from Heavy Conversion and Operational Training Units on a diversionary sweep over the North Sea, 22 Mosquitos to Berlin and 6 to Cologne, 20 RCM sorties, 76 Mosquito patrols, 8 Halifaxes minelaying in the Frisians, 36 aircraft on Resistance operations. 3 aircraft lost - 1 Mosquito from the Berlin raid and 2 Halifaxes from Resistance operations.
Total effort for the night: 972 sorties, 36 aircraft (3.7 per cent) lost.
132 Lancasters and 12 Mosquitos of 5 and 8 Groups attacked two launching sites and a supply dump. All target areas were partially cloud-covered but the targets were believed to have been hit. No aircraft lost.
36 Mosquitos to Bremen, 9 RCM sorties, 29 Mosquito patrols, 6 Halifaxes minelaying off Heligoland, 8 OTU sorties. No aircraft lost.
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