The 83 Sqdn left from Wyton at 1944-04-12 at 20:44. Loc or duty Aachen
He flew with a Avro Lancaster (type III, serial ND395, code OL-E).
Campaign report of the USAAF:
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): Mission 300: 455 bombers and 766 fighters dispatched to bomb industrial targets at Schweinfurt, Zwickau, Oscheresleben, Schkeuditz, Halle and Leipzig are forced to abandon the mission because of haze and multilayer clouds; Luftwaffe fighter opposition is concentrated over N France and the bombers claim 10-6-7 fighters; 6 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged; 25 B-24s are damaged; casualties are 12 KIA, 16 WIA and 56 MIA.
Escort is provided by 124 P-38s, 449 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 193 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; they claim 18-1-3 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-8 on the ground; 3 P-38s and 2 P-51s are lost, 2 P-47s are damaged beyond repair and 3 P-38s, 17 P-47s and 1 P-51 are damaged; 5 pilots are MIA.
HQ 353d Fighter Group moves from Metfield to Raydon, England.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): 231 B-26s and 20 A-20s attack railroad, shore batteries, radar installations, airfields, and V-weapon sites at Dunkirk and Courtrai/Wevelghem, France; Coxyde/Furnes, De Pannes-Bains, Saint Ghislain and Ostend, Belgium; and points along the coast.
70+ P-47s dive-bomb military installations in N France.
Campaign report of the RAF:
11/12 April 1944
341 Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3, 5 and 8 Groups despatched to Aachen. 9 Lancasters lost, 2.6 per cent of the force. This raid was accurate and caused widespread damage and fires in the centre of Aachen and in the southern part of the town, particularly in the suburb of Burtscheid. This was Aachen's most serious raid of the war. Control of the air-raid services was quickly lost when one of the first salvoes or "bombs cut communications between the main operations centre and outlying posts.
7 Mosquitos to bomb night-fighter airfields, 36 Mosquitos on diversion raid to Hannover and 3 each to Duisburg and Osnabrück, 7 RCM sorties, 7 Serrate patrols, 35 Halifaxes and 8 Stirlings minelaying off Brest and in the Kattegat, 26 aircraft on Resistance operations, 8 OTU sorties. No aircraft lost.
Total effort for the night: 492 sorties, 9 aircraft (1.8 per cent) lost.
12/13 April 1944
39 Mosquitos carried out a harassing raid on Osnabrück without loss.
Minor operations: 2 Mosquitos on Serrate patrols, 40 Halifaxes and 10 Stirlings minelaying in the Frisians and off Heligoland, 21 aircraft on Resistance operations, 11 OTU sorties. 2 Stirlings lost on Resistance operations.
With thanks to the RAF and USAAF.net!
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