The 1663 CU Unit left from Rufforth at 1945-02-25 at 17:20. Loc or duty Sweepstake
He flew with a Handley Page Halifax (type III, serial PN366, code -).
Campaign report of the USAAF:
AIRBORNE OPERATIONS
(IX Troop Carrier Command): HQ 437th Troop Carrier Group and the 83d, 84th, 85th and 86th Troop Carrier Squadrons move from Ramsbury, England to Voisins Airfield, Coulommiers, France with C-47s.
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force):: 2 missions are flown.
Mission 847: 1,197 bombers and 755 fighters are dispatched to hit tank factories, airfields associated with jet aircraft, oil depots and rail targets visually; they claim 34-0-21 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 bombers and 8 fighters are lost:
1. 377 B-17s are sent to hit the Maybach tank factory at Friedrichshaffen (63) using Gee-H, and the station and marshalling yard (73) and oil storage tanks and marshalling yard (174) at Munich; 51 hit the secondary target, the marshalling yard at Ulm; 1 other hit Kenzingen, a target of opportunity; 2 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 135 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 2 WIA and 18 MIA.
Escorting are 136 of 149 P-51s; they claim 1-0-2 aircraft on the ground; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA).
2. 452 B-17s are dispatched to hit the marshalling yard at Munich (315) and Neuburg (88); targets of opportunity are Kaufbeuren (13), Ludwigsfeldt marshalling yard (12), Kempten (1), Durladingen (2), Rortwell (1) and other (5); 3 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 197 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 3 WIA and 27 MIA.
140 of 145 P-51s escort and claim 2-0-3 aircraft on the ground.
3. 368 B-24s are sent to hit the marshalling yard (115) and tank factory (54) at Aschaffenburg and the airfields at Giebelstadt (96) and Schwabishch Hall (93); 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 31 damaged; 3 airmen are KIA and 6 WIA.
The escort is 126 of 135 P-51s.
4. 262 P-47s and P-51s fly close escort and area patrols claiming 21-0-4 aircraft in the air and 10-0-12 on the ground; 6 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 P-47 is damaged beyond repair.
5. 8 P-51s escort 4 F-5s on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany.
6. 32 of 34 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
Mission 848: 12 B-24s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): In Germany, the 9th Bombardment Division strikes 4 rail bridges, 4 communications centers, a marshalling yard and 9 targets of opportunity as part of the interdiction campaign against Germany; fighters escort the bombers, attack assigned ground targets, fly armed reconnaissance, and support the 8th and 104th Infantry Divisions in the Duren area, the XIII and XlX Corps E of the Roer River, and the VIII, XII, and XX Corps along the Prum and Saar Rivers.
Campaign report of the RAF:
24/25 February 1945
74 training aircraft on a diversionary sweep over Northern France to draw German fighters into the air, 63 Mosquitos to Berlin, 18 to Neuss and 3 on 'siren tours' of Dessau, Erfurt and Halle, 37 RCM sorties, 23 Mosquito patrols, 35 Lancasters minelaying in the Kattegat and off Norwegian ports. 5 RCM aircraft - 4 Halifaxes and 1 Fortress - lost; these aircraft were operating in association with the diversionary sweep of training aircraft and were probably victims of German fighters drawn up by that sweep. The 4 lost Halifaxes were all from No 462 (Australian) Squadron, based at Foulsham; they had been sent ahead of the diversionary force to drop Window, bombs and incendiaries in a 'spoof' raid on the Ruhr.
25 February 1945
153 Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out a G-H attack on the synthetic-oil refinery at Kamen. 1 Lancaster lost.
25/26 February 1945
63 Mosquitos to Erfurt, 10 each to Berlin and Mainz and 6 to Bremen, 8 RCM sorties, 23 Mosquito patrols, 10 Halifaxes of No 6 Group minelaying in Oslo Fjord, 20 aircraft on Resistance operations. 1 Halifax minelayer lost.
With thanks to the RAF and USAAF.net
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