He flew with a Avro Lancaster (type III, serial NE169, code 6O-E).
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): Mission 455: In the morning, missions are flown to France and Germany:
1. 800 bombers and 224 fighters are dispatched to bomb 18 V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais area; 556 of 641 B-17s and 133 of 159 B-24s bomb; 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair; 161 B-17s and 59 B-24s are damaged; 2 airmen are KIA and 3 WIA.
Escort is provided by 141 P-38s and 83 P-51s; they claim 4-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-38 is lost (pilot is MIA).
2. 229 of 262 B-24s bomb the dock area at Kiel, Germany and 1 hits a target of opportunity; 3 B-24s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 105 damaged; 8 airmen are WIA and 22 MIA.
Escort is provided by 168 of 189 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot is MIA).
Mission 456: In the late afternoon 73 of 104 B-17s and 148 of 176 B-24s strike 6 V-weapon sites and supply installations, 3 railroad bridges, a highway bridge, and an airfield in N France.
Escort is provided by 443 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; 1 P-47 is lost; afterwards a squadron of P-47s dive-bombs 3 airfields in the Conches area.
212 P-38s and P-47s, fly fighter-bomber missions against rail and road traffic in the Paris area; they claim 11-1-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 P-47s are lost (pilots are MIA).
Mission 457: 7 of 7 B-17s drop leaflets in Belgium and France during the night.
20 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions; 1 B-24 is lost.
A C-47 makes the first landing at a secret airstrip in the Ain, France area.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): In France during the morning around 500 B-26s and A-20s bomb bridges and rail lines at 8 locations; in the afternoon 5 targets are attacked, including bridges, fuel dumps, railroad tracks, and a V-weapon location; 15+ fighter groups escort bombers, fly armed reconnaissance of rail lines, roads, and marshalling yards, damaging or destroying tracks, trains, a tunnel, a building, and a supply dump; fighters also cover the beach and bomb and strafe troop concentrations and gun positions; HQ 404th Fighter Group and 506th, 507th and 508th Fighter Squadrons move from Winkton, England to Chapelle with P-47s; the 14th Liaison Squadron, XIX Tactical Air Command, moves from Ibsley, England to Nehou with L-5s; and the 388th Fighter Squadron, 365th Fighter Group, moves from Beaulieu, England to Azeville with P-47s.
In England, HQ 367th Fighter Group and 393d and 394th Fighter Squadrons move from Stony Cross to Ibsley with P-38s.
542 aircraft - 321 Lancasters, 201 Halifaxes, 20 Mosquitos - of Nos 3, 4, 6 and 8 Groups attacked 2 flying bomb launching and 2 storage sites. The night was clear with a bright moon and all targets were hit. 4 Lancasters lost.
154 Lancasters of No 1 Group to the main railway area at Dijon, which was heavily bombed. No aircraft lost.
35 Mosquitos to Scholven/Buer and 10 to Düren, 9 RCM sorties, 50 Mosquito patrols, 6 Halifaxes minelaying off Brest and St Nazaire, 29 aircraft on Resistance operations, 3 OTU sorties. 3 Mosquitos were lost - 1 from the Scholven raid, 1 RCM aircraft and 1 Serrate aircraft.
Total effort for the night: 838 sorties, 7 aircraft (0.8 per cent) lost.
551 aircraft - 314 Halifaxes, 210 Lancasters, 26 Mosquitos, 1 Mustang - attacked 5 V-weapon targets. Only 1 aircraft was lost, a No 6 Group Halifax from a raid on siracourt flying-bomb store. Four of the targets were clear of cloud and were believed to have been bombed accurately but no results were seen at the Forêt de Croc launching site.
On his return from leading 617 Squadron's attack on the Mimoyecques site, Wing Commander Leonard Cheshire was ordered by the commander of No 5 Group to leave the squadron and rest. Cheshire had completed 4 tours and flown 100 operations. Squadron Leaders JC McCarthy, KL Munro and DJ Shannon, the three No 617 Squadron flight commanders - all survivors of the Dams Raid - were also ordered to rest. 2 months later, Cheshire was awarded the Victoria Cross for his 4 tours and for his courage and skill in developing low-level marking. He did not fly on operations again.
33 Mosquitos to Scholven/Buer and 3 to Mezieres railway junction, 6 Intruder and 16 flying-bomb patrols, 4 Stirlings minelaying off the Belgian and Dutch coasts. No aircraft lost; Mosquitos shot down 6 flying bombs, their best success of the war.
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