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Back to Normandy · No. 161 Squadron (Special Duties)

The 161 Sqdn left from an unknown RAF station at 1944-01-08 at an unknown time. Loc or duty Training

1944-01-08 · Unknown location · United Kingdom

The story

On Saturday 08 January 1944, a member of the 161 Sqdn, Squadron Leader R E Wilkinson, took off from an unknown RAF station 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 Lockheed Hudson A-28 / A-29 / AT-18 (type I, serial N7263, code MA-).

Campaign report of the USAAF:


7 January 1944

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS

(Eighth Air Force): 351 of 382 B-17's and 69 of 120 B-24's hit the I G Faren Industrie plant at Ludwigshafen, Germany; they claim 30-6-17 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 B-17's and 17 B-24's are lost, 2 B-17's and 2 B-24's are damaged beyond repair and 104 B-17's and 18 B-24's are damaged; casualties are 14 KIA, 13 WIA and 121 MIA. 71 P-38's, 463 P-47's and 37 Ninth Air Force P-51's escort; they claim 7-0-3 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-38 and 5 P-47's are lost and 1 P-47 is damaged; casualties are 6 MIA.

Mission 179: During the evening, 5 B-17's drop 1.08 million leaflets on Paris, Chartres, Caen and Evreux, France without loss.

TACTICAL OPERATIONS

(Ninth Air Force): 35 B-26's bomb the Cherbourg/ Maupertus Airfield. Bad weather restricts further operations.

8 January 1944

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS

(Eighth Air Force): Mission 180: During the evening, 5 B-17's drop 2.292 million leaflets on Antwerp and Brussels, Belgium; and Rennes, Brest and Nantes, France without loss.




Campaign report of the RAF:


7/8 January 1944

6 Mosquitos to Krefeld and 5 to Duisburg, 1 aircraft on a Resistance operation, 28 OTU sorties. The Resistance operation aircraft - a No 138 Squadron Halifax - crashed in England soon after taking off, killing all 10 men on board, probably 7 crew and 3 passengers.

8/9 January 1944

Mosquito operations: 10 to Frankfurt, 8 to Solingen, 3 to Aachen, 2 to Dortmund. 2 aircraft lost.


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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