The 75 Sqdn left from an unknown RAF station at 1943-04-16 at an unknown time
He flew with a Short Stirling (type -, serial -, code -M).
Campaign report of the USAAF:
(Eighth Air Force): VIII Bomber Command Mission Number 51: 25 B-24's are dispatched against the Brest, France U-Boat base while 83 B-17's are dispatched against the Lorient, France U-Boat base. 19 B-24's drop 52 tons on Brest at 1337-1338 hours; the B-24's claim 2-3-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 B-24's are lost, 1 is damaged beyond repair and 9 are damaged; casualties are 3 WIA and 31 MIA. 59 B-17's bomb Lorient at 1412-1414 hours dropping 147 tons of bombs; they claim 9-4-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-17 is lost and 8 are damaged; casualties are 7 WIA and 10 MIA. The attack is hindered by an effective smoke screen and strong fighter opposition. HQ 96th Bombardment Group (Heavy) arrives at Great Saling, England from the U.S.
Campaign report of the RAF:
15/16 April 1943
23 aircraft minelaying from Brest to Lorient, 5 OTU sorties. No aircraft lost.
16 April 1943
25 Venturas bombed a chemical factory at Ostend and railway yards at Haarlem without loss.
The bombing at Ostend was accurate but the Haarlem raid hit housing near the railway causing many casualties. 85 Dutch people were killed and 160 injured and the old Town Hall was damaged by fire.
16/17 April 1943
327 aircraft - 197 Lancasters and 130 Halifaxes dispatched to bomb the Skoda armaments factory at Pilsen in Czechoslovakia. 18 Lancasters and 18 Halifaxes lost, 11.0 per cent of the force. One Canadian squadron, No 408, lost 4 of its 12 Halifaxes dispatched. This raid, took place by the light of a full moon but was not a success. In a complicated plan, the Main Force was ordered to confirm the position of the Skoda factory visually; the Pathfinder markers were only intended as a general guide. In the event, a large asylum building 7 miles away was mistaken for the factory and only 6 crews brought back bombing photographs which were within 3 miles of the real target. The Skoda factory was not hit. One report says that 200 German soldiers were killed when their barracks near the asylum was bombed.
Mannheim was the target for 271 aircraft - 159 Wellingtons, 95 Stirlings, 17 Halifaxes. The Pathfinders marked this target accurately and an effective attack followed. 18 aircraft - 9 Wellingtons, 7 Stirlings, 2 Halifaxes - lost, 6.6 per cent of the force.
11 OTU aircraft dropped leaflets over France without loss.
Total effort for the night: 609 sorties, 54 aircraft (8.9 per cent) lost. The aircraft losses on this night were the highest so far in the war, exceeding the 50 lost on the 1,000-bomber-type raid on Bremen on 25/26 June 1942, but 14 of the aircraft lost from the Pilsen and Mannheim raids came down in the sea and a proportion of their crews were rescued.
With thanks to the RAF and USAAF.net!
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