The 51 Sqdn left from Snaith at 1944-06-30 at an unknown time. Loc or duty Villers-Bocage
He flew with a Handley Page Halifax (type III, serial LV782, code MH-E).
Campaign report of the USAAF:
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): Mission 448: 153 bombers and 539 fighters are dispatched to attack airfields; 1 fighter is lost; of 75 B-17s, 39 hit Montdidier Airfield, 24 hit Le Culot Airfield and 11 hit Coxyde/Furnes Airfield, Belgium; 27 B-17s are damaged; of 78 B-24s, 35 hit Conches Airfield and 26 hit Evreux/Fauville Airfield, France without loss.
Escort is provided by 168 of 178 P-51s without loss escort and afterwards strafe marshalling yards, airfields, barges, barracks, a train, a factory, and a warehouse with good results.
No enemy aircraft are encountered and no aircraft are lost.
Other P-38s, P-47s and P-51s hit bridges, marshalling yards and other targets in France; they claim 3-3-4 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-0 on the ground; 1 P-38 is lost (pilot is MIA) and 1 P-47 is damaged beyond repair (pilot is KIA).
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): In France, 125+ B-26s and A-20s, using blind-bombing methods in bad weather, bomb fuel dumps and road junctions at Conde-sur-Vire, Foret de Conches, Conde-sur-Noireau, and Thury- Harcourt; around 250 others are forced to abort due to weather; 600+ fighters escort bombers, fly cover over the beach, and bomb marshalling yards at Chartres and Verneuil-sur-Avres, bridges E of Paris, and Evreux-Bueil, and Breux-sur-Avre-Trappes rail lines; the fighters fly armed reconnaissance in the Seine-Loire gap and along the Loire River, and Continent-based fighters of the IX Tactical Air Command attack communications targets in advance of the US and British positions; HQ 405th Fighter Group and 510th Fighter Squadron move from Christchurch, England to Picauville with P-47s.
112th Liaison Squadron, Ninth Air Force (attached primarily to HQ Command, SHAPE) moves from Hurst Park to Heston, England with L-5s.
Campaign report of the RAF:
29/30 June 1944
2 Fortresses on RCM sorties, 14 Mosquitos on flying-bomb patrols, 8 Stirlings minelaying off Biscay coasts, 16 aircraft on Resistance operations. 1 Mosquito shot down a flying bomb, probably the first No 100 Group Mosquito success against the flying bombs. No Bomber Command aircraft lost.
30 June 1944
266 aircraft - 151 Lancasters, 105 Halifaxes, 10 Mosquitos - of Nos 3, 4 and 8 Groups to bomb a road junction at Villers Bocage through which the tanks of two German Panzer divisions, the 2nd and 9th, would have to pass in order to carry out a planned attack on the junction of the British and American armies in Normandy that night. The raid was controlled with great care by the Master Bomber, who ordered the bombing force to come down to 4,000ft in order to be sure of seeing the markers in the smoke and dust of the exploding bombs. 1,100 tons of bombs were dropped with great accuracy and the planned German attack did not take place. 1 Halifax and 1 Lancaster lost.
102 Lancasters and 5 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups bombed a flying-bomb launching site at Oisemont. The attack took place through 10/10ths cloud and results were not observed. No aircraft were lost.
6 Mosquitos flew uneventful Ranger patrols.
30 June/1 July 1944
118 Lancasters of No 1 Group attacked railway yards at the small town of Vierzon, south of Orléans and bombed with great accuracy, a success for No 1 Group's own marking flight. 11 Lancasters were lost, nearly 12 per cent of the force.
40 Mosquitos to Homberg oil plant, 6 RCM sorties, 29 Mosquitos on fighter patrols, 6 Stirlings minelaying in the River Scheldt. 1 Mosquito lost from the Homberg raid.
With thanks to the RAF and USAAF.net!
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