He flew with a Avro Lancaster (type I, serial LM179, code WP-M).
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): Mission 441: During the morning 658 bombers are dispatched to hit targets in France; 7 bombers are lost:
1. Of 263 B-17s, 104 hit Toulouse/Francazal Airfield, 72 hit Toulouse/ Blangnac Airfield and 64 hit Montbartier oil depot; 5 B-17s are lost, 1 is damaged beyond repair and 114 damaged; 10 airmen are KIA, 5 WIA and 45 MIA.
Escort is provided by 46 P-38s, 36 P-47s and 146 P-51s; they claim 10-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot is MIA).
2. Of 258 B-24s, 43 hit targets of opportunity, 23 hit Beuvry, 18 hit Mazingarbe, 12 hit Aube-sur-Risle, 12 hit Doullens, 12 hit La Vaupalier, 12 hit Peronne Airfield, 11 hit Amiens/St Maurice, 11 hit Calais, 11 hit Tingry, 10 hit Abbeville, 10 hit St Omer/Longuenesse, 8 hit Boulogne, 8 hit Holque, 7 hit Nunque, 7 hit Pont-a-Vendin, 2 hit Chocques; 1 B-24 is lost, 1 is damaged beyond repair and 26 damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 2 WIA.
Escort is provided by 68 P-47s and 34 P-51s without loss.
3. Of 137 B-24s, 59 hit St Avord Airfield and 48 hit Bourge Airfield; 1 B-24 is lost; 10 airmen are MIA.
Escort is provided by 102 P-38s and 44 P-47s; they claim 8-0-4 Luftwaffe aircraft without loss.
Mission 442: During the midday 463 bombers are dispatched to targets in France; 6 bombers are lost; escort is provided by 127 P-38s, 35 P-47s and 181 P-51s; they claim 4-0-3 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot is MIA):
1. Of 274 B-24s, 63 hit Villacoublay air depot, 35 hit Bretigny Airfield and 11 hit Buc Airfield; 5 B-24s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 104 damaged; 11 airmen are KIA, 7 WIA and 59 MIA.
2. Of 189 B-17s, 70 hit Soigny Bridge, 38 hit Sens Bridge, 28 hit Clamecy, 21 hit Auxerre Bridge, 21 hit Nanteuil, 20 hit Nogent, 18 hit Orly Airfield, 13 hit Romilly-sur-Seine, 12 hit Folous, 12 hit Etampes/Mondesir Airfield and 3 hit Orly marshalling yard; 1 B-17 is lost and 20 damaged; 2 airmen are WIA and 19 MIA.
41 of 43 P-47s fly a flight-bomber mission against Evreux/Fauville landing ground.
In the USSR, B-17s and P-51s are flown, at daybreak, from dispersal bases to Poltava and Mirgorod and loaded and fueled with intentions of bombing the oil refinery at Drohobycz, Poland and proceed to base in Italy.
Bad weather cancels the mission until the tomorrow.
The aircraft return to dispersal bases for the night as precaution against air attacks.
24 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER mission.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): In France, 400+ B-26s and A-20s hit fuel dumps at Foret d'Andaine, Foret d'Ecouves, and Senonches, and rail bridges at Cherisy, Chartres, Oiseme and Epernon; 14 fighter groups send aircraft on escort, and on armed reconnaissance and dive bombing missions over the Chartres, Dreux, Argentan, Tours, and Orleans areas; transports fly supply and evacuation missions; and HQ 50th Fighter Group and 10th and 81st Fighter Squadrons move from Lymington, England to Carentan with P-47s.
739 aircraft - 535 Lancasters, 165 Halifaxes, 39 Mosquitos - from all groups attacked 7 flying bomb sites, causing fresh damage at most of the targets. (The flying-bomb sites were now becoming so cratered by RAF, 8th Air Force and 2nd Tactical Air Force bombing that results for individual raids were becoming difficult to determine.) 22 Lancasters were lost from these raids; it was a clear, moonlit night and most of the bomber casualties were caused by German night fighters, often operating with the help of searchlights. It is not known why all of the casualties were Lancasters.
27 Mosquitos to Berlin, 7 RCM sorties, 34 Mosquito patrols, 13 aircraft minelaying off French ports and in the Kattegat. 1 Mosquito lost from the Berlin raid.
Total effort for the night: 820 sorties, 23 aircraft (2.8 per cent) lost.
323 aircraft - 202 Halifaxes, 106 Lancasters, 15 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4, 6 and No 8 Group attacked 3 flying bomb sites. The weather was clear and it was believed that all 3 raids were accurate. 2 Halifaxes of No 4 Group were lost from the raid on the Montorgueil site. No 617 Squadron sent 17 Lancasters, 2 Mosquitos and 1 Mustang to bomb the Siracourt flying-bomb store. The Mustang was flown by Wing Commander Cheshire and used as a low-level marker aircraft. The Mustang had only arrived at Woodhall Spa that afternoon, by courtesy of the Eighth Air Force, and this was Cheshire's first flight in it. The Lancasters scored 3 direct hits on the concrete store with Tallboy bombs and no aircraft were lost. Cheshire had to make his first landing in the unfamiliar Mustang when he returned to his home airfield after dark.
42 Mosquitos of No 8 Group to bomb the Rheinpreussen synthetic-oil plant at Homberg/Meerbeck; photographs showed that no new damage was caused. No aircraft lost.
8 Mosquitos flew RCM sorties and 16 Mosquitos carried out Serrate patrols. No aircraft lost.
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