The 138 Sqdn left from Tempsford at 1944-04-01 at 21:00. Loc or duty SIS or SOE
He flew with a Handley Page Halifax (type V, serial LL252, code NF-K).
Campaign report of the USAAF:
1 April 1944
(Eighth Air Force): Mission 287: 440 bombers and 475 fighters are dispatched to bomb the chemical industry at Ludwigshafen, Germany (the largest in Europe).
1. The 245 B-17s dispatched of the lead force abandon the mission over the French coast due to heavy clouds; 7 B-17s are damaged.
2. The 195 B-24s in the second force became widely dispersed and bomb targets of opportunity; 101 hit Pforzheim; 38 hit Schaffhausen, Switzerland; 17 hit Strasbourg, France; and 9 hit Grafenhausen; Schaffhausen and Strasbourg were mistaken as German towns; they claim 1-1-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 12 B-24s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 42 damaged; casualties are 9 KIA, 12 WIA and 113 MIA.
Escort is provided by 280 P-47s and 195 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s: P-47s claim 13-1-19 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground 2 P-47s are lost and 12 damaged, 2 pilots are MIA; P-51s claim 5-2-4 aircraft, 2 P-51s are lost and 2 damaged, 2 pilots are MIA.
3 April 1944
(Ninth Air Force): Because of a combat crew shortage which has caused abolition of the 50-mission limit tour of duty and resulted in fatigue and morale problems, IX Bomber Command establishes a new operational leave policy.
Maximum leaves for bomber crews are set at 1 week between the 25th and 30th missions and 2 weeks between the 40th and 50th missions.
4 April 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): Units arriving in England from the US: HQ 339th Fighter Group at Fowlmere; and 836th, 837th, 838th and 839th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy), 487th Bombardment Group, at Lavenham with B-24s (first mission is 7 May).
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): Units arriving in England from the US: HQ 373d Fighter Group and 410th Fighter Squadron at Woodchurch with P-47s (first mission is 8 May); HQ 404th Fighter-Bomber Group at Winkton; HQ 406th Fighter-Bomber Group at Ashford; HQ 410th Bombardment Group (Light) and 644th, 645th, 646th and 647th Bombardment Squadrons (Light) at Birch with A-20s (first mission is 4 May); and 393d and 394th Fighter Squadrons, 367th Fighter Group, at Stony Cross with P-38s (first mission is 9 May).
5 April 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): Mission 288: 21 of 50 B-24s dispatched hit V-weapon sites at St Pol/Siracourt, France without loss; heavy clouds and the failure of blind-bombing equipment cause other B-24s to return to base without bombing.
50 P-47s escort the B-24s without loss.
Mission 289: 96 P-38s, 236 P-47s and 124 P-51s are dispatched to attack airfields in Germany; heavy cloud hinders most groups: 1 P-38s is lost and 4 damaged, 1 pilot is MIA; P-47s claim 2-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft, 1 P-47 is lost and 4 damaged, 1 pilot is MIA; P-51s claim 96-4-120 aircraft, 7 P-51s are lost and 3 damaged, casualties are 1 KIA and 6 MIA.
During the night of 5/6 Apr, 801st Bombardment Group (Provisional) dispatches 17 B-24s on CARPETBAGGER (air operations to drop supplies to guerillas in Europe) missions; 1 B-24 is lost.
Units arriving in England from the US: HQ 487th Bombardment Group (Heavy) at Lavenham; 503d, 504th and 505th Fighter-Bomber Squadrons, 339th Fighter- Bomber Group at Fowlmere with P-51s (first mission is 30 Apr); and 832d, 833d, 834th and 835th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy), 486th Bombardment Group (Heavy), with B-24s (first mission is 7 May).
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): Units arriving in England from the US: HQ 36th Fighter Group and 22d Fighter Squadron at Kingsnorth with P-47s (first mission is 8 May); HQ 50th Fighter Group and 10th, 81st and 313th Fighter Squadrons at Lymington with P-47s (first mission is 1 May); HQ 367th Fighter Group and 392d Fighter Squadron at Stony Cross with P-38s (first mission is 9 May); HQ 397th Bombardment Group (Medium) and 596th, 597th, 598th and 599th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium) at Gosfield with B-26s (first mission is 20 Apr); 411th and 412th Fighter Squadrons, 373d Fighter Group at Woodchurch with P-47s (first mission is 8 May); 506th, 507th and 508th Fighter-Bomber Squadrons, 404th Fighter-Bomber Group, at Winkton with P-47s (first mission is 1 May); and 513th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 406th Fighter- Bomber Group, at Ashford with P-47s (first mission is 9 May).
Campaign report of the RAF:
31 March/1 April 1944
3 Oboe Mosquitos to Essen, 28 aircraft on Resistance operations, 15 OTU sorties. 1 Halifax on a Resistance supply-dropping operation was lost.
1/2 April 1944
35 Mosquitos bombed Hannover through thin cloud. No aircraft lost.
Mosquitos - 7 to Aachen, 6 to Krefeld and 2 to La Glacerie flying-bomb site, 1 RCM sortie, 4 Serrate patrols, 34 Halifaxes minelaying off the Dutch coast, 9 aircraft on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost.
With thanks to the RAF and USAAF.net!
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