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The 1663 CU Unit left from Holme on Spalding Moor at 1943-11-20 at an unknown time. Loc or duty ?

1943-11-20 · Holme on Spalding Moor · United Kingdom

The story

On Saturday 20 November 1943, a member of the 1663 CU Unit, an unknown crew member, took off from Holme on Spalding Moor in the United Kingdom. His mission is mentioned elsewhere on WW2 History Europe. You can find the other details of this mission by searching here. Training and cargo flights are not separately mentioned as a mission. The plane left at an unknown time .

He flew with a Handley Page Halifax (type V, serial DG234, code -).

Campaign report of the USAAF:


No report

Campaign report of the RAF:


19/20 November 1943

Leverkusen bombed by 266 aircraft - 170 Halifaxes, 86 Stirlings, 10 Mosquitos - of Nos 3,4,6 and 8 Groups. Only 4 Halifaxes and 1 Stirling - 1.9 per cent of the force - lost; very few German fighters were operating, probably because of bad weather at their airfields. Failures of equipment prevented most of the Oboe marking being carried out and other Pathfinder aircraft were unable to mark the target properly in difficult weather conditions, leading to bombs being scattered over a wide area. At least 27 towns, mostly well to the north of Leverkusen, recorded bombs. Leverkusen's own records show only one high-explosive bomb in the town!

6 Mosquitos to Duisburg and 2 to Rheinhausen, 25 aircraft minelaying off Biscay ports, 11 OTU sorties. No losses. Many of the aircraft returning from operations encountered fog conditions on reaching England and 2 Halifaxes and 1 Stirling crashed, but 4 Halifaxes of No 35 Squadron landed safely at Graveley when the first operational use was made of the oil-burning fog dispersal equipment called FIDO (Fog Investigation Dispersal Operation), which was installed at Graveley airfield. Several other airfields were soon fitted with this useful device.


With thanks to the RAF and USAAF.net!

This record can also be found on the maps of WW2 History Europe with Google coordinates. You can find the maps by clicking on this link on this location.

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