The 692 Sqdn left from Manston at 1945-02-01 at 16:55. Loc or duty Transit
He flew with a de Havilland Mosquito (type XVI, serial MM18, code 3-).
Campaign report of the USAAF:
AIRBORNE OPERATIONS
(IX Troop Carrier Command): During Feb 45, HQ 438th Troop Carrier Group and the 87th, 88th, 89th and 90th Troop Carrier Squadrons move from Greenham Common, England to Prosnes, France with C-47s.
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force):: 2 missions are flown.
Mission 814: 699 B-17s and 328 P-51s are dispatched to hit rail targets and bridges in W Germany using Micro-H and H2X radar; no losses:
1. 463 B-17s are sent to hit the marshalling yards at Mannheim (74) and Ludwigshafen (70); 270 hit the secondary target, the highway and rail bridge at Mannheim; targets of opportunity are Pforzheim (11) and other (3); 2 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 24 damaged; 3 airmen are WIA.
Escorting are 142 of 151 P-51s.
2. 236 B-17s are send to hit the rail bridge at Wesel (139); 36 hit the marshalling yard at Krefeld, the secondary target; and 13 hit Barth, a target of opportunity; 2 B-17s are damaged.
49 of 53 P-51s escort.
3. 20 of 22 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
4. 87 of 102 P-51s fly a freelance sweep in support of the bombers.
Mission 815: 6 of 9 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night.
HQ 361st Fighter Group and the 374th, 375th and 376th Fighter Squadrons move from Little Walden, England to Chievres, Belgium with P-51s (the squadrons have been operating from St-Dizier, France since 23 Dec 44).
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): 146 B-26s, A-26s, and A-20s bomb rail bridges and defended areas on the Rhine and Mosel Rivers and in W Germany near the battlefront.
The IX and XIX Tactical Air Commands escort the bombers, fly armed reconnaissance, and in Germany, attack the Euskirchen marshalling yard and the town of Arloff.
In France, HQ 98th Combat Bombardment Wing (Medium) moves from Athies Airfield, Laon to Havrincourt and HQ 367th Fighter Group moves from Juvincourt to St-Dizier.
Campaign report of the RAF:
31 January/1 February 1945
8 Mosquitos to the Hansa benzol plant at Dortmund and 6 Mosquitos to Duisburg. 1 aircraft from the Dortmund raid crashed in Holland.
The weather started to improve at the beginning of February and Bomber Command commenced an almost unbroken period of operations of the most intense and concentrated nature which would continue until a halt was called to the strategic-bombing offensive in April. The first round of raids, however, was not very effective because of poor weather at the targets.
1 February 1945
160 Lancasters of No 3 Group attacked the general town area of Mönchengladbach through 8-10/10ths cloud, using G-H. The results of the raid are not known. 1 Lancaster crashed in France.
1 Halifax flew an RCM sortie.
1/2 February 1945
Ludwigshafen: 382 Lancasters and 14 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 6 and 8 Groups. 6 Lancasters lost. Most of the force aimed their loads at skymarkers and the local report shows that bombs fell in many parts of Ludwigshafen, with much property damage of a mixed nature. The 900 houses destroyed or seriously damaged were the main item in the report but it also states that the railway yards were seriously damaged and one of the Rhine road bridges was hit by 2 bombs and temporarily closed to traffic.
Mainz: 340 aircraft - 293 Halifaxes, 40 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups. No aircraft lost. A few early crews were able to bomb target indicators seen through a gap in the clouds, but the gap soon closed and most of the raid was on skymarkers. The local report states that a few buildings were destroyed, including the Christuskirche, which burnt out, and the town hospital was damaged, but most of the bombing fell outside Mainz.
Siegen: 271 Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos of No 5 Group. 3 Lancasters and 1 Mosquito lost. This raid also experienced difficult marking and bombing conditions. Some damage was caused to the railway station but the local report says that the markers were either carried away from Siegen by a strong wind or that dummy markers and a decoy fire site attracted much of the bombing. Most of the raid fell in country areas outside Siegen.
122 Mosquitos to Berlin, 8 to Bruckhausen benzol plant, 6 to Hannover, 4 to Nuremberg and 4 dropping dummy target indicators at both Mannheim and Stuttgart, 64 RCM sorties, 47 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.
Total effort for the night: 1,273 sorties, 10 aircraft (0.8 per cent) lost.
With thanks to the RAF and USAAF.net!
This record can also be found on the maps of Back to Normandy with Google coordinates. You can find the maps by clicking on this link on this location.
There are several possibilities to investigate the flight records on Back to Normandy. All the flights are plotted on maps, sorted "day by day", "by squadron", "by type aircraft", "by year or month", "by location" and much more! Don't miss this!!!
If you have any information that you want to share, please add your comment at the bottom of this record. Or send your information to [email protected]. This information will be added to the record.
Your photos and your information are very welcome! The young do care and with your help we keep up the good work.