The 97 Sqdn left from Bourn at 1944-01-15 at 16:46. Loc or duty Braunschweig
He flew with a Avro Lancaster (type III, serial ND421, code OF-S).
Campaign report of the USAAF:
14 January 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): Mission 183: 356 of 374 B-17's and 156 of 178 B-24's hit 20 of 21 V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais area of France; 19 B-24's hit targets of opportunity; they claim 8-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 B-17's and 1 B-24 are lost, 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 66 B-17's and 9 B-24's are damaged; casualties are 1 KIA, 11 WIA and 31 MIA. 98 P-38's, 504 P-47's and 43 Ninth Air Force P-51's escort; they claim 14-1-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-38, 1 P-47 and 1 P-51 are lost, 1 P-47 is damaged beyond repair and 9 P-47's and 1 P-51 are damaged; casualties are 3 MIA. Mission 184: During the evening, 4 B-17's drop 840,000 leaflets on Amiens, Lille, Cambrai and St. Omer France without loss.
Mission 185: 2 B-17's are dispatched to Wesel, Germany for a night test of Oboe Mk II; 1 aircraft aborts and 1 drops 2 tons of high explosive bombs on the target without loss.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): HQ 71st Fighter Wing transfers from Aldermaston to Greenham Common, England.
16 January 1944
General Dwight D Eisenhower assumes duties of Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force (AEF).
Campaign report of the RAF:
14/15 January 1944
496 Lancasters and 2 Halifaxes on the first major raid to Brunswick of the war. 38 Lancasters lost, 7.6 per cent of the force. The German running commentary was heard following the progress of the bomber force from a position only 40 miles from the English coast and many German fighters entered the bomber stream soon after the German frontier was crossed near Bremen. The German fighters scored steadily until the Dutch coast was crossed on the return flight. 11 of the lost aircraft were Pathfinders. Brunswick was smaller than Bomber Command's usual targets and this raid was not a success. The city report describes this only as a 'light' raid, with bombs in the south of the city which had only 10 houses destroyed and 14 people killed. Most of the attack fell either in the countryside or in Wolfenbüttel and other small towns and villages well to the south of Brunswick.
82 aircraft - 59 Stirlings, 13 Halifaxes, 10 Mosquitos - attacked flying bomb sites at Ailly, Bonneton and Bristillerie without loss.
11 Mosquitos to Magdeburg and 6 to Berlin, 9 RCM sorties, 2 Serrale patrols, 29 aircraft minelaying off Brest and in the Frisians, 36 OTU sorties. No losses.
Total effort for the night: 673 sorties, 38 aircraft (5.6 per cent) lost.
With thanks to the RAF and USAAF.net!
This record can also be found on the maps of Back to Normandy with Google coordinates. You can find the maps by clicking on this link on this location.
There are several possibilities to investigate the flight records on Back to Normandy. All the flights are plotted on maps, sorted "day by day", "by squadron", "by type aircraft", "by year or month", "by location" and much more! Don't miss this!!!
If you have any information that you want to share, please add your comment at the bottom of this record. Or send your information to [email protected]. This information will be added to the record.
Your photos and your information are very welcome! The young do care and with your help we keep up the good work.