The 431 Sqdn left from Croft at 1944-07-26 at 21:11. Loc or duty Stuttgart
He flew with a Handley Page Halifax (type III, serial MZ858, code SE-Y).
Campaign report of the USAAF:
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): Mission 496: Of 192 P-47s, 93 attack the St. Just marshalling yards and 40 attack Givet fuel dump in France; 1 P-47 is lost (pilot is MIA) and 10 damaged.
Mission 497: 7 of 7 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.
9 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): In France, weather forces the recall of several groups of B-26s and A-20s, assigned to support the US First Army, but about 160 aircraft manage to bomb a fuel dump at Senonches with good results; fighters escort the bombers, fly cover over the assault area, carry out close support for ground troops in the Saint-Lo area, and fly armed reconnaissance in the Poix, Amiens, Chartres, Laval, and Angers areas; and the detachment of the 422d Night Fighter Squadron, 71st Fighter Wing, operating from Ford, England with P-61s returns to base at Maupertus.
Campaign report of the RAF:
25/26 July 1944
412 Lancasters and 138 Halifaxes to continue the attack on Stuttgart. 8 Lancasters and 4 Halifaxes lost, 2.2 per cent of the force.
135 aircraft - 114 Halifaxes, 11 Lancasters, 10 Mosquitos - of Nos 1, 4 and 8 Groups attacked the Krupp oil refinery at Wanne-Eickel. No aircraft lost. Only a few bombs hit a corner of the oil refinery and production was not seriously affected. Other bombs hit the south-eastern part of Eickel, destroying 14 houses and killed 29 civilians, 4 foreign workers and 3 prisoners of war and causing production at the Hannibal coal mine to cease.
36 Lancasters and 15 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups bombed 3 launching sites and succeeded in destroying the launching ramp at the Bois des Jardins site. No aircraft lost.
21 Mosquitos to Berlin, 15 to Mannheim and 6 to Somain, 28 RCM sorties, 37 Mosquito patrols, 4 Halifaxes minelaying off Brest, 5 Halifaxes on Resistance operations. 1 Mosquito of No 100 Group lost.
Total effort for the night: 852 sorties, 13 aircraft (1.5 per cent) lost.
26/27 July 1944
178 Lancasters and 9 Mosquitos of No 5 Group carried out an accurate attack on the railway yards at Givors. 4 Lancasters and 2 Mosquitos lost.
30 Mosquitos to Hamburg, 11 to Somain and 2 to Saarbrücken, 6 RCM sorties, 23 Mosquito patrols, 6 Lancasters minelaying off Heligoland, 6 aircraft on Resistance operations. 1 Mosquito lost from the Hamburg raid.
With thanks to the RAF and USAAF.net!
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