He flew with a Avro Lancaster (type I, serial ME595, code QR-Y).
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): 3 missions are flown.
Mission 677: 754 bombers and 464 fighters are dispatched to hit industrial, oil and rail targets in the Cologne, Germany area; all but 1 force bombs by PFF methods; 7 bombers and 3 fighters are lost:
1. 454 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Geron (141), Nippes (127) and Kalk (111) marshalling yards; 11 others hit the Koblenz/Lutzel marshalling yard; 4 B-17s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 293 damaged; 14 airmen are KIA, 15 WIA and 40 MIA.
Escort is provided by 146 of 151 P-51s; 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair.
2. 385 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Eifeltor (148) and Imbert (24) marshalling yards; secondary targets are the Kalk (117) and Gereon (50) marshalling yards; other targets are Wester marshalling yard (11) and other (1); 2 B-17s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 230 damaged; 10 airmen are KIA, 19 WIA and 18 MIA.
Escort is provided by 150 of 154 P-51s; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair.
3. 369 B-24s are dispatched to hit oil facilities at Monheim/Rhenania (64) and Reisholz (61) visually; secondary targets are Cologne/Gereon marshalling yard (185) and Dormigeon (13); targets of opportunity are Worringen (12), Cologne Airfield (12) and Limburg marshalling yard (6); 1 B-24 is lost and 106 damaged; 3 B-24s are lost and 106 damaged; 3 airmen are KIA, 7 WIA and 10 MIA.
Escort is provided by 131 of 141 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair.
Mission 678A: 2 of 9 B-17s make an APHRODITE attack on naval installations on Heligoland Island, Germany; 23 of 24 B-17s fly a cover mission to the same targets.
Escort is provided by 15 of 16 P-51s and 2 P-38s without loss.
Mission 679: 5 B-17s and 4 B-24s fly a night leaflet mission over the Netherlands, France and Germany without loss.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): Weather prevents bomber operations; fighters fly rail cutting missions and support elements of the US First, Third, Seventh, and Ninth Armies in E France and W Germany.
Bomber Command continued Operation Hurricane by dispatching 1,005 aircraft - 498 Lancasters, 468 Halifaxes, 39 Mosquitos - to attack Duisburg again in 2 forces 2 hours apart. 941 aircraft dropped 4,040 tons of high explosive and 500 tons of incendiaries during the night. 5 Lancasters and 2 Halifaxes were lost.
Nearly 9,000 tons of bombs had thus fallen on Duisburg in less than 48 hours. Local reports are difficult to obtain. The Duisburg Stadtarchiv does not have the important Endbericht - the final report. Small comments are available: 'Heavy casualties must be expected.' 'Very serious property damage. A large number of people buried.' 'Thyssen Mines III and IV: About 8 days loss of production.' 'Duisburg-Hamborn: All mines and coke ovens lay silent.'
Not only could Bomber Command dispatch more than 2,000 sorties to Duisburg in less than 24 hours, but there was still effort to spare for No 5 Group to attack Brunswick with 233 Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos. The various diversions and fighter support operations laid on by Bomber Command were so successful that only 1 Lancaster was lost from this raid. Bomber Command had attempted to destroy Brunswick 4 times so far in 1944 and No 5 Group finally achieved that aim on this night, using their own marking methods. It was Brunswick's worst raid of the war and the old centre was completely destroyed. A local report says 'the whole town, even the smaller districts, was particularly hard hit'. It was estimated by the local officials that 1,000 bombers had carried out the raid.
141 training aircraft on a diversionary sweep to Heligoland, 20 Mosquitos to Hamburg, 16 to Berlin, 8 to Mannheim and 2 to Düsseldorf, 132 aircraft of 100 Group on RCM, Serrate and Intruder flights (no sub-totals are available), 8 aircraft on Resistance operations. 1 Halifax was lost on the diversionary sweep - it was seen to dive into the sea in flames - and 1 Mosquito was lost from the Berlin raid.
Total effort for the night: 1,572 sorties, 10 aircraft (0.6 per cent) lost.
Total effort for the 24 hours: 2,589 sorties, 24 aircraft (0.9 per cent) lost. Total tonnage of bombs dropped in 24 hours: approximately 10,050 tons. These record totals would never be exceeded in the war.
18 Lancasters of No 9 Squadron to attack the dam at the Sorpe reservoir, the second most important supply of water for the Ruhr and one of the targets for the original Dams Raid by No 617 Squadron in 1943. 16 aircraft dropped Tallboys or other bombs from 15,000ft and hits were seen on the face of the earth dam but no breach was made. No aircraft lost.
3 RCM sorties, 4 Hudsons on Resistance operations. No losses.
506 aircraft - 257 Halifaxes, 241 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitos - from all groups except No 5 Group on the last of 14 major Bomber Command raids on Wilhelmshaven that began in early 1941. Bomber Command claimed 'severe damage' to the business and residential areas.
44 Mosquitos to Hamburg, 6 to Saarbrücken and 2 each to Düsseldorf and Kassel, 33 RCM sorties, 42 Mosquito patrols, 22 Halifaxes and 15 Lancasters minelaying off Denmark, 2 aircraft on Resistance operations. 2 Halifaxes and 2 Lancasters lost from the minelaying operation.
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