The 608 Sqdn left from Downham Market at 1944-10-12 at 1:36. Loc or duty Berlin
He flew with a de Havilland Mosquito (type XX, serial KB348, code 6T-).
Campaign report of the USAAF:
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 674: 552 bombers and 514 fighters are dispatched to hit targets in Germany; they claim 18-3-1 aircraft; 3 bombers and 5 fighters are lost:
1. Weather prevents the 290 B-24s dispatched to hit the primaries at Vechta, Achmer, Rheine and Varrelbusch; PFF means were used to hit the secondary, the marshalling yard at Osnabruck (267); 5 others hit Diepholz Airfield, a target of opportunity; 2 B-24s are lost and 67 damaged; 19 airmen are MIA.
Escort is provided by 210 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 1-1-0 aircraft in the air.
2. 262 B-17s are dispatched to aviation industries at Bremen (267) bombing visually; 1 other hits a target of opportunity; 1 B-17 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 59 damaged.
7 airmen are KIA, 1 WIA and 9 MIA.
Escort is provided by 273 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 17-2-1 aircraft; 5 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA).
Mission 675: 8 aircraft are dispatched to drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night; 2 B-24s are lost.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): HQ Ninth AF is delegated administrative (in addition to operational) control over HQ XII Tactical Air Command hitherto assumed by US Strategic Air Forces in Europe (USSTAF).
Advanced HQ XIX Tactical Air Command arrives at Nancy, France, following the advance of the US Third Army.
Almost 250 B-26s and A-20s bomb Camp-de-Bitche, France military camp, rail bridges at Grevenbroich and Ahrweiler, Germany, city areas of Langerwehe and Aldenhoven, Germany, and Venraij, the Netherlands, and various targets of opportunity; escorting fighters also fly armed reconnaissance and rail cutting in the Dusseldorf and Aachen, Germany and Belfort, France areas, and support the VIII, XII, XV, and XX Corps in E France and W Germany.
In France, the 14th Liaison Squadron, XIX Tactical Air Command (attached to Third Army), moves from Gussainville to Nancy with L-5s; the 365th, 366th and 367th Fighter Squadrons, 358th Fighter Group, based at Vitry-le-Francois, begins operating from St Dizier with P-47s; the 586th and 587th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium), 394th Bombardment Group (Medium), moves from Bricy to Cambrai/Niergnies with B-26s.
Campaign report of the RAF:
11/12 October 1944
46 Mosquitos to Berlin, 8 to Wiesbaden and 4 to Heilbronn. 1 aircraft lost from the Berlin raid.
12 October 1944
111 Halifaxes and 26 Lancasters of Nos 6 and 8 Groups attacked the oil plant at Wanne-Eickel. A direct hit on a storage tank early in the raid produced dense cloud and smoke which hindered later bombing. A German report says that the refinery itself was not seriously damaged but that the GAVEG chemical factory was destroyed; it is possible that the bombers were aiming at the wrong target.
86 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitos of Nos 1 and 8 Groups attacked a gun battery near Breskens and destroyed 2 of the 4 gun positions. No aircraft lost.
3 RCM sorties, 1 Hudson on a Resistance operation. No losses.
12/13 October 1944
Mosquitos went to bomb the following targets: Hamburg, 52 aircraft; Düsseldorf and Wiesbaden, 6 aircraft each; Koblenz, 4 aircraft; Schweinfurt, 2 aircraft. 1 aircraft lost from the Hamburg raid.
With thanks to the RAF and USAAF.net!
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