01 Aug 1944, WW2 Air Raids over Hong Kong & South China

Submitted by ssuni86 on Tue, 05/14/2019 - 20:37

OBJECTIVE: Staggered single-aircraft night raids to harass Canton airfields and prevent JAAF from flying night bombing missions

RESULTS: Due to cloud cover, B-25 #405 fails to find the target and does not release its bombs.  B-25 #403 bombs Tien Ho and White Cloud airbases, but damage is unknown.

TIME OVER TARGET: ~7:55 to 10:20 p.m.

AMERICAN UNITS AND AIRCRAFT: Two B-25s from 11th Bomb Squadron (341st Medium Bomb Group)

AMERICAN PILOTS AND AIRCREW:

  • B-25: #403: 1st Lt. Stanley A. Johnson; 2nd Lt. Boyd A. [last name illegible]; 2nd Lt. Warren Curtis; 2nd Lt. Philip [last name illegible]; Sgt. Frank L. Gaines; Staff Sgt. Roy A. Jones; Staff Sgt. Frederick T. Kaveney
  • B-25 #405: 1st Lt. Gordon R. Francis; 2nd Lt. Harry G. Charles; 2nd Lt. William G. Pauger; Staff Sgt. Charles A. [last name illegible]; Staff Sgt. Ervin B. Terwilliger; Sgt. William Cullen.

ORDNANCE EXPENDED: 20 x 100-pound bombs

JAPANESE UNITS, AIRCRAFT, AND PILOTS: None

AIRCRAFT LOSSES: None

SOURCES: Original mission reports and other documents in the Air Force Historical Research Agency archives at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama.

Information compiled by Steven K. Bailey, author of Bold Venture: The American Bombing of Japanese-Occupied Hong Kong, 1942-1945 (Potomac Books/University of Nebraska Press, 2019).

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WW2 Air Raids over Hong Kong & South China
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Per participating crew memorandum for 11th Bomb Squadron, Mission #389, 1 Aug 44, Objective- Canton:

#403 (B-25J 43-3891, mission time 5:00 hrs.)
1Lt. Stanley A. Johnson, pilot; 2Lt. Boyd A. Shumway, copilot; 2Lt. Warren G. Curtis, nav-bomb; 2Lt. Philip Il Holman, bomb-nav; Sgt. Frank L. Gaines, engineer-gunner; S/Sgt. Roy A. Jones, radio-gunner; S/Sgt Frederick T. Kaveney, gunner.

#405 (B-25J 43-3949, mission time 4:20 hrs.)
1Lt. Gordon R. Francis, pilot; 2Lt. Harry G. Charles, copilot; 2Lt. William G. Hauger, observer (Intelligence Officer); S/Sgt. Charles A. Toca, engineer-gunner; S/Sgt. Ervin B. Terwillliger, radio-gunner; Sgt. William Cullen, gunner.

(ref: microfilmed 11th Bombardment Squadron Historical Records, contained on Reel A0539)

Many thanks for correcting/completing the crew names for this mission, TonyStro!  The document I was working from had some illegible names and more than a few typos.  It's good to have the names straight now!