The 161 Sqdn left from Tempsford at 1943-11-11 at 19:50. Loc or duty SOE
He flew with a Handley Page Halifax (type V, serial EB129, code MA-W).
Campaign report of the USAAF:
ANTISUBMARINE OPERATIONS
(First Air Force): The 479th Antisubmarine Group and it's 4th, 6th, 19th and 22d Antisubmarine Squadrons (Heavy) are disbanded at Podington, England.
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): VIII Bomber Command Mission 127: Two areas in Germany are targetted. 1. 57 of 167 B-17's hit the marshalling yard at Munster at 1408 hours; 1 B-17 hits Cleve; the rest abort the mission because of bad weather that hinders assembly; they claim 10-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 B-17's are lost and 27 damaged; casualties are 4 WIA and 40 MIA. 2. 180 B-17's, including 5 PFF aircraft, dispatched to Wesel, abort the mission over the English Channel due to assembly difficulties and the presence of heavy frontal cloud; 1 B-17 is damaged; no casualties.
The two missions above are escorted to 59 P-38's and 342 P-47's; the P-47's claim 8-1-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 P-47's are lost and 1 is damaged; casualties are 2 MIA. VIII Bomber Command Mission 128: 1 PFF B-17 is dispatched to Emmerich, Germany but hits Rees at 2057 hours in an Oboe test. VIII Bomber Command Mission 129: 1 PFF B-17 hits Emmerich at 2115 in an Oboe test.
The 406th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 1st Bombardment Division, transfers to Alconbury, England with B-24's. The squadron will begin flying CARPETBAGGER missions on 5 Jan 44.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): 157 B-26's bomb military installations and targets of opportunity in the Cherbourg, France area, mainly at Martinvast.
Campaign report of the RAF:
10/11 November 1943
313 Lancasters of 5 and No 8 Groups to attack the railway yards at Modane on the main line between France and Italy. The Pathfinder marking, in difficult conditions, was slightly beyond the target but 200 aircraft brought back photographs to show that their bombs fell within 1 mile of the target and the railway system was seriously damaged.
2 Mosquitos to Dortmund, 7 Stirlings minelaying in the River Gironde and off La Pallice, 20 OTU flights. No aircraft were lost from the 342 sorties flown on this night.
11/12 November 1943
In another attack on the French transport system, 124 Halifaxes and 10 Lancasters of 4,6 and No 8 Groups to bomb marshalling yards at Cannes and railway installations on the main coastal line to Italy. 4 Halifaxes lost.
The night was clear and the Pathfinders marked the target from 5,000ft but the railway yards were not hit at all and the railway workshops suffered only blast damage.
No 617 Squadron resumed operations after its period of high-level training with the new 'Stabilizing Automatic Bomb Sight'. 10 Lancasters each dropped one 12,000lb bomb on the railway viaduct at Anthéor but no hits were recorded
29 Mosquitos to Berlin, Hannover and the Ruhr, 45 aircraft minelaying from Brest to the Frisian Islands, 6 OTU sorties. 1 Halifax and 1 Wellington lost from the minelaying force.
With thanks to the RAF and USAAF.net!
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