The 434 Sqdn left from Croft at 1944-03-26 at 18:32. Loc or duty Aulnoye
He flew with a Handley Page Halifax (type V, serial LL225, code WL-L).
Campaign report of the USAAF:
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): Mission 280: V-weapon sites in France are hit.
1. 234 of 243 and 138 of 185 B-24s hit 9 sites in the Pas de Calais area; 4 B-17s and 1 B-24 are lost, 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 134 B-17s and 38 B-24s are damaged; casualties are 2 KIA, 15 WIA and 50 MIA.
2. 128 of 145 B-17s hit 7 sites in the Cherbourg area; 64 B-17s are damaged.
Escort is provided by 266 P-47s; they claim 1-1-4 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; 1 P-47 is lost (pilot is MIA) and 5 damaged.
Mission 281: 6 of 6 B-17s drop 300 bundles of leaflets on Caen, Rennes, Amiens, Paris and Rouen, France at 2114-2206 hours without loss.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): 338 B-26s and 35 A-20s attack the Ijmuiden, The Netherlands torpedo-boat pens.
In France, nearly 140 P-47s and P-51s dive-bomb Creil marshalling yard and other military installations.
Campaign report of the RAF:
25/26 March 1944
192 aircraft - 92 Halifaxes, 47 Lancasters, 37 Stirlings, 16 Mosquitos - attacked railway yards at Aulnoye in France. No aircraft lost.
22 Lancasters of No 5 Group to an aero-engine factory at Lyons, 10 Mosquitos to Berlin and 2 to Hamm, 7 Serrate patrols, 14 Stirlings minelaying in Brittany to the Frisians, 5 OTU sorties. No losses.
26/27 March 1944
Essen: 705 aircraft - 476 Lancasters, 207 Halifaxes, 22 Mosquitos. The sudden switch by Bomber Command to a Ruhr target just across the German frontier caught the German fighter controllers by surprise and only 9 aircraft - 6 Lancasters, 3 Halifaxes - were lost, 1.3 per cent of the force. Essen was covered by cloud but the Oboe Mosquitos marked the target well and this was a successful attack.
109 aircraft - 70 Halifaxes, 32 Stirlings, 7 Mosquitos of Nos 3, 4, 6 and 8 Groups - attacked railway targets at Courtrai. No aircraft lost.
22 Mosquitos to Hannover, 3 to Aachen and 3 to Julianadorp, 8 RCM sorties, 13 Serrate patrols, 20 Stirlings minelaying off French ports, 4 aircraft on Resistance operations, 12 OTU sorties. No aircraft lost.
Total effort for the night: 899 sorties, 9 aircraft (1.0 per cent) lost.
With thanks to the RAF and USAAF.net!
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