The 7 Sqdn left from Oakington at 1943-03-09 at 19:08

He flew with a Short Stirling (type I, serial R9270, code MG-T).

Campaign report of the USAAF:

Campaign report of the RAF:

8/9 March 1943

335 aircraft - 170 Lancasters, 103 Halifaxes, 62 Stirlings - to Nuremberg. 8 aircraft - 4 Stirlings, 2 Halifaxes, 2 Lancasters - lost, 2.4 per cent of the force.

This distant raid had to be marked by a combination of H2S and visual means. The Pathfinders had no moon to help them and, although there was no cloud, they found that haze prevented accurate visual identification of the target area. The result was that both marking and bombing spread over more than 10 miles along the line of the attack, with more than half of the bombs falling outside the city boundaries. This result would be typical of raids carried out beyond the range of Oboe during this period. 
Sergeant DR Spanton, a mid-upper gunner in a 7 Squadron Stirling, had a fortunate escape on this night. After his aircraft crossed the English coast on the return flight, Spanton realized that he was the only man still in the plane. The remainder of the crew, newly arrived on this Pathfinder squadron, had baled out earlier, possibly because of suspected fuel shortage, and the pilot left the plane flying on automatic pilot. Spanton had not heard the order. He parachuted safely over Kent and the empty Stirling later crashed into the Thames estuary. The remainder of the crew, presumably thinking they were parachuting over France, had actually come down in the sea and were all drowned. Sergeant Spanton went on to fly a further 12 operations but his plane was lost on the night of 24/25 June 1943 in a raid on Wuppertal and the presence of his name on the Runnymede Memorial probably indicates that he died in the sea on that occasion.

4 Mosquitos to the Ruhr, 16 Wellingtons minelaying in the Frisians. No losses.

9 March 1943

15 Mosquitos bombed the Renault works at Le Mans and scored direct hits. 1 Mosquito lost.

9/10 March 1943

Raid by 264 aircraft - 142 Lancasters, 81 Halifaxes, 41 Stirlings - on Munich. The wind caused this raid to be concentrated on the western half of Munich rather than on the centre of the city, but much damage was caused. The most serious industrial damage was at the BMW factory where the aero-engine assembly shop was put out of action for 6 weeks. Many other industrial concerns were hit, including 141 small, back-street-type workshops which were destroyed. 8 aircraft - 5 Lancasters, 2 Halifaxes, 1 Stirling - lost, 3.0 per cent of the force.

8 Mosquitos to the Ruhr, 62 aircraft minelaying off Kiel and in the Frisians, 4 OTU sorties. 3 Wellington minelayers lost.

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