The 115 Sqdn left from Witchford at 1944-01-15 at 17:02. Loc or duty Braunschweig

On Saturday 15 January 1944, a member of the 115 Sqdn, Flight Lieutenant J H Cheistiansen, took off from Witchford 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 17:02.

He flew with a Avro Lancaster (type II, serial LL673, code KO-G).

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!

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