He flew with a Avro Lancaster (type III, serial ND502, code 6O-N).
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): Mission 416: 370 bombers, including 22 Pathfinders are dispatched to 4 airfields and 4 CROSSBOW (V- weapon) supply sites in France; 1 B-17 is lost:
1. Of 146 B-17s, 38 bomb Laon/Athies Airfield, 38 hit Juvincourt Airfield, 18 hit railroad targets of opportunity and 17 hit Laon/Couvron Airfield; 1 B-17 is lost and 58 damaged; 3 airmen are WIA and 9 MIA.
2. 224 B-24s are dispatched to bomb airfields and CROSSBOW sites; B-24s attacking V-weapon supply sites are: 48 hit Renescure, 44 hit Sautrecourt, 43 hit Domleger and 21 hit Beauvoir; airfields attacked are: 17 hit Beauvais/ Tille, 17 hit Authe and 12 hit St Andre de L'Eure; 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 13 damaged; 5 airmen are KIA and 2 WIA.
VIII Fighter Command missions for the day are:
1. 165 P-38s, 88 P-47s and 172 P-51s escort the bombers above, they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; no losses.
2. 70 P-51s perform a sweep against stalled trains between Angouleme and Poitiers, dropping external fuel tanks on them and firing the tanks by strafing; the same tactics are used on trains in the marshalling yard at Saint-Pierre-d'Ecideuil; heavy damage is inflicted on both targets, including heavy troop casualties.
3. 50 P-38s and 75 P-47s make fighter-bomber attacks on troops in the Arras-St Pol area; at St-Pol-sur-Ternoise a large number of railroad cars are burned by oil and phosphorus bombs and strafing attacks; other marshalling yards, a power station, railroad station, trains, barges, tanks, trucks, gun emplacements, AA tower and an armored vehicle are attacked; A total of about 400 railroad cars are attacked and about half of them set on fire.
In general the fighter attacks are highly effective; 3 P-38s are lost (pilots are MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair.
Mission 417: 10 of 10 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the evening.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): In France, bad weather prevents bomber operations; 500+ fighters strafe and bomb rail lines, bridges and highway traffic on the Cherbourg Peninsula; and 397th Fighter Squadron, 368th Fighter Group moves from Chilbolton, England to Cardonville with P-47s.
227 aircraft - 119 Lancasters, 99 Halifaxes, 9 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 5 and 8 Groups attacked an ammunition dump at Fouillard and a fuel dump at Châtellerault. The raid at Fouillard, carried out by No 4 Group with Pathfinder marking, hit the north- western section of the target and the all-No 5 Group raid at Châtellerault destroyed 8 fuel sites out of 35 in the target area. No aircraft lost.
224 aircraft - 184 Lancasters, 30 Stirlings, 10 Mosquitos - of Nos 3 and 8 Groups attacked railway yards at Lens and Valenciennes. The raids took place in clear visibility and both targets were accurately bombed. 6 Lancasters were lost from the Lens raid and 5 Lancasters from Valenciennes.
31 Mosquitos to Gelsenkirchen, 13 Serrate and 21 Intruder patrols, 7 Stirlings and 4 Halifaxes minelaying off Channel ports. 1 Mosquito lost from the Gelsenkirchen raid.
Total effort for the night: 527 sorties, 12 aircraft (2.3 per cent) lost.
2 Mosquitos of No 100 Group carried out uneventful daylight Intruder patrols to Leeuwarden airfield.
405 aircraft - 236 Lancasters, 149 Halifaxes, 20 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4, 5, 6 and 8 Groups commenced the new campaign against flying-bomb launching sites with raids on 4 sites in the Pas de Calais area. All targets were accurately marked by Oboe Mosquitos and successfully bombed. No aircraft lost.
321 aircraft - 162 Halifaxes, 147 Lancasters, 12 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4, 6 and 8 Groups to attack the synthetic-oil plant at Sterkrade/Holten despite a poor weather forecast. The target was found to be covered by thick cloud and the Pathfinder markers quickly disappeared. The Main Force crews could do little but bomb on to the diminishing glow of the markers in the cloud. RAF photographic reconnaissance and German reports agree that most of the bombing was scattered, although some bombs did fall in the plant area, but with little effect upon production. Unfortunately, the route of the bomber stream passed near a German night-fighter beacon at Bocholt, only 30 miles from Sterkrade. The German controller had chosen this beacon as the holding point for his night fighters. Approximately 21 bombers were shot down by fighters and a further 10 by flak. 22 of the lost aircraft were Halifaxes, these losses being 13.6 percent of the 162 Halifaxes on the raid. No 77 Squadron, from Full Sutton near York, lost 7 of its 23 Halifaxes taking part in the raid.
25 Mosquitos and 1 Lancaster of No 8 Group to Berlin, 12 RCM sorties (the airborne Mandrel jamming screen was used for the first time on this night), 53 Serrate, Intruder and flying-bomb patrols, 8 Stirlings and 4 Halifaxes minelaying in the Frisians and off the Biscay coast. 1 Stirling RCM aircraft lost.
Total effort for the night: 829 sorties, 32 aircraft (3.9 per cent) lost.
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