The 109 Sqdn left from Little Staughton at 1944-12-27 at 13:00. Loc or duty Rheydt
He flew with a de Havilland Mosquito (type XVI, serial ML961, code HS-).
Campaign report of the USAAF:
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 764: Freezing fog at bases in the UK restrict operations but 641 bombers and 390 fighters are dispatched against rail targets in W Germany in support of the battlefront in the Bulge; they claim 29.
5-1-9 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 bombers and 5 fighters are lost:
1. 227 B-17s are sent to hit marshalling yards at Fulda (118) and Andernach (63) and the rail bridge at Neuwied (7); 13 others hit a target of opportunity; 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 45 damaged; 9 airmen are KIA.
The escort is 44 of 46 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA).
2. 182 B-24s are dispatched to hit marshalling yards at Neunkirchen (57), Homburg (46) and Kaiserslautern (33) and the rail bridge at Kaiserslautern (19); targets of opportunity are the marshalling yard at St Wendel (9) and the rail junction at Enkenbach (8); 1 B-24 is lost, 5 damaged beyond repair and 60 damaged; 18 airmen are KIA, 11 WIA and 6 MIA.
Escorting are 88 of 96 P-51s; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA).
3. 232 B-17s are sent to hit the marshalling yard at Euskirchen (72), the Gerolstein rail junction (58) and rail bridges at Bullay (34) and Altenahr (25); targets of opportunity are Hillesheim (12) and Eckfeld (1); 1 B-17 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 83 damaged; 9 airmen are KIA, 6 WIA and 9 MIA.
Escort is provided by 46 of 48 P-51s without loss.
4. 163 P-47s and P-51s fly a fighter sweep and engage about 200 Luftwaffe fighters; they claim 29.
5-1-9 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA).
5. 15 of 15 P-51s fly a scouting missions without loss.
Mission 765: A night leaflet mission is flown over Germany.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): The 9th Bombardment Division attacks rail bridges, communications centers, and targets of opportunity in Germany and Belgium; fighters escort the bombers, fly patrols and armed reconnaissance, and support the US 3d Armored and 82d Airborne Divisions in the Manhay and Trois-Ponts area of Belgium, and the III, VIII, and XII Corps in Saint-Hubert-Bastogne-Martelange area of Belgium.
Units moving from Chievres, Belgium: HQ 365th Fighter Group and the 388th Fighter Squadron to Metz, France with P-47s; HQ 368th Fighter Group and 395th, 396th and 397th Fighter Squadrons to Juvincourt, France with P-47s.
Campaign report of the RAF:
27 December 1944
200 Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 3, 5 and 8 Groups attacked the railway yards at Rheydt. 1 Lancaster was lost and 1 Mosquito crashed behind the Allied lines in Holland.
27/28 December 1944
Opladen: 328 aircraft - 227 Halifaxes, 66 Lancasters, 35 Mosquitos. 2 Lancasters lost. 9 of the Mosquitos bombed 3½ hours before the main raid. The aiming point for the attack was the marshalling yards but results are not known.
7 Mosquitos on Oboe trials to Bonn, Eisenach, Frankfurt and Kassel (probably calibrating new Oboe stations in France and Belgium), 7 Mosquitos on 'siren tours' of Hamburg, Hannover, Münster and Osnabrück, 32 RCM sorties, 37 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.
With thanks to the RAF and USAAF.net!
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