The 141 Sqdn left from West Raynham at 1943-12-24 at 00:35. Loc or duty Patrol

On Friday 24 December 1943, a member of the 141 Sqdn, Flight Sergeant H Hanson, took off from West Raynham in the United Kingdom. His mission is mentioned elsewhere on Back to Normandy. 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 00:35.

He flew with a Bristol Beaufighter (type IV, serial V8402, code TW-F).

Campaign report of the USAAF:

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS

(Eighth Air Force): 26 heavy bomber groups are now operational. VIII Bomber Command Mission 164: 23 V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais area of France are hit. 478 of 526 B-17's 192 of 196 B-24's hit the targets at 1330-1510 hours; 2 B-24's are damaged beyond repair and 85 B-17's are damaged; casualties are 4 WIA.

This is the largest number of aircraft carrying out attacks of any Eighth Air Force mission to date and the first of its major strikes against missile sites.

The heavies are escorted by 40 P-38's, 459 P-47's and 42 Ninth Air Force P-51's; 2 P-38's are damaged beyond repair and 2 P-51's are damaged; no casualties.

TACTICAL OPERATIONS

(Ninth Air Force): 60+ B-26's attack NOBALL (V-missile sites) targets in Pas de Calais area of France. 30+ B-26's abort due to bad weather.

Campaign report of the RAF:

23/24 December 1943

Berlin: 379 aircraft - 364 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitos, 7 Halifaxes. The bomber casualties were not as heavy as on recent raids, partly because German fighters encountered difficulty with the weather and partly because the German controller was temporarily deceived by the Mosquito diversion at Leipzig. The main force of fighters only appeared in the target area at the end of the raid and could not catch the main bomber stream. 16 Lancasters were lost, 4.2 per cent of the force. The Berlin area was covered by cloud and more than half of the early Pathfinder aircraft had trouble with their H2S sets. The markers were scattered and sparse.

12 Mosquitos to Aachen, 9 to Duisburg and 7 to Leipzig, 4 RCM sorties, 3 Beaufighters on Serrate patrols, 7 OTU sorties. 1 Beaufighter lost.

24/25 December 1943

No bombing raids were carried out on Christmas Eve but 35 Halifaxes were sent minelaying in the Frisians and returned without loss.

With thanks to the RAF and USAAF.net!

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