The 515 Sqdn left from Little Snoring at 1944-07-15 at 23:55. Loc or duty BS

On Saturday 15 July 1944, a member of the 515 Sqdn, Flight Lieutenant H A Lightbody, took off from Little Snoring in the United Kingdom. His mission is mentioned elsewhere on WW2 History Europe. You can find the other details of this mission by searching here. Training and cargo flights are not separately mentioned as a mission. The plane left at 23:55.

He flew with a de Havilland Mosquito (type VI, serial PZ293, code 3P-).

Campaign report of the USAAF:

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS

(Eighth Air Force): Mission 474: 169 P-38s and P-47s make fighter-bomber attacks on enemy transport SE of Paris; 2 P-38s and 1 P-47s are lost; 1 P-38 is damaged beyond repair and 10 P-38s and 2 P-47s are damaged; 4 pilots are MIA.

Mission 475: 6 of 6 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.

27 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions to France during the night.

TACTICAL OPERATIONS

(Ninth Air Force): In France, weather cancels most operations but 4 B-26s (92 others abort) hit the L'Aigle rail bridge during the afternoon; 3 fighter-bombers fly an uneventful sweep; fighters of the IX Tactical Air Command fly area cover and bomb infantry, artillery, a marshalling yard, railroad, and a bridge in the Saint-Lo, Argentan, and Falaise areas.

Campaign report of the RAF:

14/15 July 1944

242 Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 5 and 8 Groups to attack the railway yards at Revigny and Villeneuve. The raid on Villeneuve was carried out and the railways were hit, though much of the bombing fell to the east of the target. The raid to Revigny was abandoned because the railway yards could not be identified. 7 Lancasters lost from the Revigny raid.

115 aircraft - 101 Halifaxes, 10 Mosquitos, 4 Lancasters - of 4, 6 and 8 Groups attacked V-weapons sites at Anderbelck and Les Landes. Anderbelck was accurately bombed in good visibility but the bombing at Les Landes was through 10/10ths cloud.

Support and 132 aircraft on a diversionary sweep over the North Sea, 42 Mosquitos to Hannover, 35 RCM sorties, 56 Mosquito patrols, 8 Stirlings minelaying off Biscay ports. 1 Mosquito of No 100 Group lost.

Total effort for the night: 641 sorties, 8 aircraft (1.3 per cent) lost.

15 July 1944

47 Lancasters and 6 Mosquitos carried out an 'Oboe leader' attack on the flying-bomb supply dump at Nucort. No bombing results were seen, because of poor weather conditions. No aircraft lost.

15/16 July 1944

234 aircraft - 162 Halifaxes, 58 Lancasters, 14 Mosquitos - carried out accurate attacks in the Bois des Jardins flying bomb launch site and the Nucourt supply dump. 1 Halifax lost.

222 Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos attacked railway yards at Chalons sur Marne and Nevers. Both raids were successful. 3 aircraft lost, 2 Lancasters from the Nevers raid and 1 Lancaster from Chalons.

Support and 162 aircraft from 7 different groups on a diversionary sweep over the North Sea, 36 Mosquitos to Berlin, 25 RCM sorties, 45 Mosquito patrols, 6 Lancasters minelaying off Denmark, 11 aircraft on Resistance operations. 1 minelaying Lancaster lost.

Total effort for the night: 748 sorties, 5 aircraft (0.7 per cent) lost.

With thanks to the RAF and USAAF.net!

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