He flew with a Avro Lancaster (type I, serial LL754, code LS-P).
20 April 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): Mission 309: 842 bombers and 388 fighters are dispatched to hit V-weapon sites in France; 24 of 33 sites briefed are hit; 9 bombers and 2 fighters are lost:
1. 438 of 630 B-17s hit sites in the Pas de Calais and Cherbourg areas; 19 others hit targets of opportunity; 7 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 309 damaged; casualties are 2 KIA, 25 WIA and 69 MIA.
2. 113 of 212 B-24s hit sites in the Pas de Calais area; 2 B-24s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 36 damaged; casualties are 10 KIA, 9 WIA and 20 MIA.
Escort is provided by 89 P-38s, 211 P-47s and 88 P-51s; they claim 4-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 4-0-0 on the ground; 2 P-51s are lost and 1 damaged; 2 pilots are MIA.
VIII Fighter Command flies 2 missions:
1. 35 P-51 fighter-bombers are dispatched to Cambrai/Epinoy Airfield, France; escort is to be provided by 31 P-47s but they are unable to locate the P-51s; 33 P-51s hit the primary and 1 hits Vitry Airfield, France.
2. 56 P-38 fighter-bombers are dispatched to hit St Trond Airfield, Belgium but jettison their bombs in the English Channel after overcast prevents location of the targets; escort is provided by 36 P-47s.
Mission 310: 5 of 5 B-17s drop 1.92 million leaflets on Nantes, Orleans, Paris and Tours, France at 2238-2246 hours without loss.
Six B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER operations.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): In France, almost 400 B-26s and A-20s attack gun positions at Etaples, Bazinghen, Villerville, Gravelines and Fecamp, the airfield at Poix, and V-weapon sites and targets of opportunity in the Pas de Calais area; nearly 140 P-47s bomb marshalling yards at Creil and Mantes-La-Jolie.
21 April 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): Eighth Air Force offensive against German oil targets is scheduled to start on this date, but the mission is cancelled because of bad weather. 309th and 310th Troop Carrier Squadrons, Eighth Air Force, arrive at Spanhoe, England from the US with C-47s; they will be reassigned to the Ninth Air Force on 26 Apr.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): In France, 236 B-26s and 34 A-20s attack gun positions, coastal defenses and V-weapons sites at Etaples, at Berck-sur-Mer, near Doullens, and in the Saint-Omer, Abbeville, and Amiens area; 4 B-26s are lost; 175+ P-47s dive-bomb marshalling yards and concentrations at Montignies-sur-Sambre, Hasselt, Namur, and Haine-Saint- Pierre.
405th and 406th Fighter Squadrons, 371st Fighter Group, based at Bisterne, England with P-47s, begin operating from Ibsley, England.
Cologne: 357 Lancasters and 22 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3, 6 and 8 Groups. 4 Lancasters lost. This concentrated attack fell into areas of Cologne which were north and west of the city centre and partly industrial in nature. 192 industrial premises suffered various degrees of damage, together with 725 buildings described as 'dwelling-houses with commercial premises attached'. 7 railway stations or yards were also severely damaged.
A raid on railway yards at La Chapelle just north of Paris was the first major test for the new No 5 Group marking method, with the group employing not only No 617 Squadron's low-level markers but the three Pathfinder squadrons recently transferred from No 8 Group. A few regular No 8 Group Mosquitos were also used to drop markers by Oboe to provide a first indication of the target's location for the main No 5 Group marking force. 247 Lancasters of No 5 Group and 22 Mosquitos from 5 and 8 Groups dispatched. 6 Lancasters lost. The bombing force was split into two parts, with an interval between them of 1 hour, and each part of the force aimed at different halves of the railway yards. There were a few difficulties at the opening of the attack, with the markers of the Oboe Mosquitos being a fraction late and with communications between the various controlling aircraft being faulty, but these difficulties were soon overcome and both parts of the bombing force achieved extremely accurate and concentrated bombing.
196 aircraft - 175 Halifaxes, 14 Lancasters, 7 Mosquitos from Nos 4 and 8 Groups despatched to Ottignies, some 35 miles south-west of Brussels. No aircraft lost. The southern half of the railway yards was severely damaged.
175 aircraft - 154 Halifaxes, 14 Lancasters, 7 Mosquitos of Nos 6 and 8 Groups in an accurate attack on railways at Lens. 1 Halifax lost.
14 Stirlings, using the G-H blind-bombing device, to bomb a railway depot at Chambly but only 4 aircraft bombed and 1 was lost.
8 Mosquitos to Berlin, 14 RCM sorties, 25 Serrate and 8 Intruder patrols, 30 Stirlings and 8 Halifaxes minelaying off French ports, 2 aircraft on Resistance operations, 27 OTU sorties. 2 Serrate Mosquitos and 1 OTU Wellington lost.
Total effort for the night: 1,155 sorties, 15 aircraft (1.3 per cent) lost. The number of sorties flown was a new record. Small jumps in record efforts will no longer be recorded in the diary.
24 Mosquitos bombed the Cologne area through complete cloud cover. No aircraft lost.
4 RCM sorties, 40 Halifaxes and 18 Stirlings minelaying off Brest and Lorient and in the Frisians, 9 aircraft on Resistance operations, 11 OTU aircraft and 4 Stirlings on leaflet flights to France. No aircraft lost.
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