The 199 Sqdn left from an unknown RAF station at 1944-04-22 at an unknown time. Loc or duty Transit

He flew with a Short Stirling (type III, serial EE910, code EX-K).

Campaign report of the USAAF:

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS

(Eighth Air Force): Mission 311: 803 bombers and 859 fighters are dispatched to hit a marshalling yard at Hamm, Germany; the bombers claim 20-6-8 Luftwaffe aircraft and the fighters claim 40-2-16; 15 bombers and 13 fighters are lost:

1. 459 of 526 B-17s bomb the primary, 20 hit Bonn, 19 hit Soest, 15 hit Hamm City and 1 hits a target of opportunity; 8 B-17s are lost, 1 is damaged beyond repair and 138 are damaged; casualties are 7 WIA and 89 MIA.

2. 179 of 277 B-24s hit the primary, 50 hit Koblenz and 36 hit targets of opportunity; 7 B-24s are lost, 14 damaged beyond repair and 59 damaged; casualties are 46 KIA, 28 WIA and 64 MIA.

Escort is 132 P-38s, 485 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 242 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; 2 P-38s, 5 P-47s and 6 P-51s are lost, 1 P-38 is damaged beyond repair and 22 aircraft are damaged; casualties are 1 WIA and 12 MIA.

Mission 312: 5 of 5 B-17s drop 1.44 million leaflets on Orleans, Tours, Paris, Nantes, Lille, Reims, Chartres and Rouen, France at 2251-2344 hours without loss.

Units arriving in England from the US: HQ 398th Bombardment Group (Heavy) and 600th, 601st, 602d and 603d Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy) at Nuthampstead with B-17s (first mission is 6 May); 844th, 845th, 846th and 847th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy), 489th Bombardment Group (Heavy), at Halesworth with B-24s (first mission is 30 May).

TACTICAL OPERATIONS

(Ninth Air Force): 400+ B-26s and about 90 A-20s fly two missions against V-weapon sites in the area of Saint-Omer and Hesdin, France.

Nearly 275 P-47s and P-51s dive-bomb marshalling yards in Belgium.

Campaign report of the RAF:

21/22 April 1944

24 Mosquitos bombed the Cologne area through complete cloud cover. No aircraft lost.

4 RCM sorties, 40 Halifaxes and 18 Stirlings minelaying off Brest and Lorient and in the Frisians, 9 aircraft on Resistance operations, 11 OTU aircraft and 4 Stirlings on leaflet flights to France. No aircraft lost.

22/23 April 1944

Düsseldorf: 596 aircraft - 323 Lancasters, 254 Halifaxes, 19 Mosquitos - of all groups except No 5. 29 aircraft - 16 Halifaxes and 13 Lancasters - lost, 4.9 percent of the force. 2,150 tons of bombs were dropped in this old-style heavy attack on a German city which caused much destruction but also allowed the German night-fighter force to penetrate the bomber stream. The attack fell mostly in the northern districts of Düsseldorf. Widespread damage was caused.

238 Lancasters and 17 Mosquitos of No 5 Group and 10 Lancasters of No 1 Group despatched to Brunswick. Few German fighters were attracted to this raid and only 4 Lancasters were lost, 1.5 per cent of the force. This raid is of importance to the history of the bombing war because it was the first time that the No 5 Group low-level marking method was used over a heavily defended German city. The raid was not successful. The initial marking by No 617 Squadron Mosquitos was accurate but many of the main force of bombers did not bomb these, partly because of a thin layer of cloud which hampered visibility and partly because of faulty communications between the various bomber controllers. Many bombs were dropped in the centre of the city but the remainder of the force bombed reserve H2S-aimed target indicators which were well to the south.

Laon railway yards: 181 aircraft - 69 Halifaxes, 52 Lancasters, 48 Stirlings, 12 Mosquitos - of Nos 3, 4, 6 and 8 Groups. 9 aircraft - 4 Lancasters, 3 Stirlings, 2 Halifaxes - lost, 5.0 per cent of the force. The attack was carried out in 2 waves and severe damage was caused. The aircraft of one of the Master Bombers, Wing Commander AGS Cousens of No 635 Squadron, was shot down; Wing Commander Cousens was killed.

17 Mosquitos on diversion raid to Mannheim and 2 more to a flying-bomb store at Wissant, 10 RCM sorties, 19 Serrate and 7 Intruder patrols, 19 aircraft on leaflet flights. No aircraft lost.

Total effort for the night: 1,116 sorties, 42 aircraft (3.8 per cent) lost.

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