He flew with a Handley Page Halifax (type III, serial MZ311, code EY-).
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): 8 missions are flown (numbers in parenthesis indicate number of bombers attacking).
Mission 575: 359 B-17s are dispatched to attack gun batteries in the Brest, France area; targets are Brest/Pte de St Mathieu (35) and coastal batteries at Kerandieu (27), Cornovailles (21), Brest/Ile Longue (20), Brest/Kerviniov (9) and Brest/Ponscorf (7); targets of opportunity are Brest/Pte des Espagnoles II (21) and Brest/Pte des Espagnoles III (18); 3 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 4 damaged; 18 airmen are KIA.
Escort is provided by 48 of 49 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost.
Mission 576: 588 bombers and 402 fighters attack oil refineries, fuel stores and chemical works in Germany; 10 bombers and 3 fighters are lost:
1. 109 B-24 are dispatched to the chemical works at Ludwigshafen (41); secondary targets hit are marshalling yards at Ehrang (33) and Kons/Karthaus (8); 11 others hit Alzey and 2 hit other targets of opportunity; 7 B-24s are lost and 53 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 3 WIA and 70 MIA.
Escort is provided by 77 of 81 P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost.
2. 259 B-17s are dispatched to oil refineries at Gelsenkirchen/Buer (89) and Gelsenkirchen/Nordstern (85); 19 hit Deelen Airfield, a secondary target, and 11 hit targets of opportunity; 3 B-17s are lost and 89 damaged; 5 airmen are WIA and 26 MIA.
Escort is provided by 159 P-47s and P-51s without loss.
3. 220 B-24s are dispatched to Dulmen fuel dump (73) and oil refineries at Salzbergen (71) and Emmerich (36); 36 others hit Eindhoven Airfield; 2 B-24s are damaged.
Escort is provided by 129 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; 1 P-38 and 1 P-51 are lost (pilots are MIA) and 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair.
Mission 577: 9 of 10 B-24s fly an AZON bomb mission to Moerdijk rail bridge, the Netherlands but clouds prevent an attack.
Escort is provided by 32 P-51s.
Mission 578: 37 B-17s are dispatched to hit liquid oxygen plants at La Louviere, Torte and Willebroeck, Belgium but the mission is aborted due to clouds.
Escort is provided by 18 of 18 P-51s.
Mission 579: 3 of 3 B-17s fly a special bomb test using Micro H radar against aviation industry targets at Meaulte, France.
Escort is provided by 7 P-47s.
Mission 580: 3 B-17s fly a Micro H test mission; 2 of the aircraft also drop leaflets.
Mission 581: 7 B-24s are dispatched on a radio countermeasures mission to aid the Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command.
Mission 582: 6 of 6 B-17s drop leaflets in France and Belgium during the night.
183 P-47s and 206 P-51s attack transport targets in Belgium, E France and W Germany; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft; 2 P-47s and 7 P-51s are lost and 9 P-47s and 6 P-51s are damaged; 1 pilot is WIA and 8 are MIA.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): HQ IX Troop Carrier Command is relieved of its assignment to the Ninth AF upon transfer of the command and its service organizations from the IX Air Force Services Command to HQ First Allied Airborne Army commanded by Lieutenant General Lewis H Brereton.
In France, IX Bomber Command, with fighter escort, strikes fuel dumps at Saint-Gobain, Fournival/Bois-de-Mont, and Compiegne/Clairoix, and troop and equipment concentrations at Rouen; fighters fly ground forces and assault area cover, and armed reconnaissance in the Rouen, Dijon, Chatillon-sur-Seine and S Loire areas; HQ 323d Bombardment Group (Medium) and 453d, 454th, 455th and 456th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium) move from Beaulieu, England to Lessay with B-26s; and the 15th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 10th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance), moves from Rennes to Chateaudun with F-6s.
412 Lancasters of Nos 1, 3, 6 and 8 Groups attacked the Opel motor factory at Rüsselsreim. 15 Lancasters were lost, 3.6 per cent of the force. The Pathfinder marking was accurate and the raid was successfully completed in 10 minutes. An official German report. says that the forge and the gearbox assembly departments were put out of action for several weeks, but 90 per cent of the machine tools in other departments escaped damage. The assembly line and part of the pressworks were able to recommence work 2 days later and lorry assembly was unaffected because of considerable stocks of ready-made parts.
190 Lancasters and 6 Mosquitos of No 5 Group to Darmstadt which had not been seriously attacked by Bomber Command before. 7 Lancasters lost. This 'No 5 Group method' raid was a failure. The Master Bomber had to return early; his 2 deputies were shot down; the flares were dropped too far west and the low-level Mosquito marker aircraft could not locate the target. 95 buildings were hit and 8 people were killed by the scattered bombs which did hit Darmstadt. 33 of the Lancasters bombed other targets, including at least 13 aircraft which joined in the successful raid on nearby Rüsselsheim.
334 aircraft - 284 Halifaxes, 32 Lancasters, 18 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups attacked 8 coastal battery positions near Brest. Most of the bombing was accurate. 1 Halifax and 1 Lancaster lost.
Support and 2 Mosquitos in preliminary reconnaissance of targets, 182 training aircraft on a diversionary sweep over the North Sea, 36 Mosquitos to Berlin and 22 to five other targets, 47 RCM sorties, 68 Mosquito patrols, 6 Halifaxes minelaying off La Pallice, 6 aircraft on Resistance operations. This was the first occasion on which No 100 Group dispatched more than 100 aircraft. 1 RCM Fortress lost.
Total effort for the night: 1,311 sorties, 25 aircraft (1.9 per cent) lost and 8 more aircraft crashed in England, including 3 OTU Wellingtons from the diversionary sweep. The total effort for this night was a new record for Bomber Command, exceeding by exactly 100 the number of aircraft dispatched on 5/6 June, the eve of D-Day.
372 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3 and 8 Groups despatched to Kiel. 17 Lancasters lost, 4.6 per cent of the Lancaster force. The Pathfinder marking was hampered by smoke-screens but the local report tells of a very serious raid with heavy bombing in the town centre and surrounding districts and widespread fires fanned by a strong wind. The Rathaus was completely burnt out and many other public buildings were destroyed or seriously damaged.
174 Lancasters of No 5 Group to Königsberg, which was an important supply port for the German Eastern Front. The route to the target was 950 miles from the No 5 Group bases. Photographic reconnaissance showed that the bombing fell in the eastern part of the town but no report is available from the target, now Kaliningrad in Lithuania. 4 Lancasters lost.
Support and 108 training aircraft on a diversionary sweep to Normandy, 21 Mosquitos to Berlin, 13 to Hamburg and 12 to five other targets, 19 RCM sorties, 70 Mosquito patrols, 30 Lancasters and 15 Halifaxes minelaying off Danzig and Kiel. 7 aircraft lost - 5 Lancaster minelayers, 1 Mosquito RCM aircraft and 1 Mosquito Serrate aircraft.
Total effort for the night: 844 sorties, 28 aircraft (3.3 per cent) lost.
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