Diary pages from this date

1.35pm raid. (10) "A fire was caused as a result of the raid" (NW direction, thick clouds of smoke)

OBJECTIVE: Bomb POL (petroleum, oil, and lubricants) depot at Lai Chi Kok

TIME OVER TARGET: ~11:30 a.m.

AMERICAN UNITS AND AIRCRAFT: Ten B-25s from the 11^th Medium Bomb Squadron (341^st Medium Bomb Group) escorted by three P-40s from the 74^th Fighter Squadron (23^rd Fighter Group).  Two additional P-40s from the 74^th Fighter Squadron are tasked with skip-bombing ships in Victoria Harbor.  All aircraft belong to the 14^th Air Force.

AMERICAN PILOTS AND AIRCREW:

• P-40s: Captain Crooks; Captain Morrison; Lt. Lundy (escorts); Captain Hawkins and Lt. Mimmack (skip-bomb flight)
• B-25 #09: 2^nd Lt. George T. Grottle; 2^nd Lt. Gerald H. Dornbach; 1^st Lt. Charles H. Dearth; Staff Sgt. Loren Morris; Sgt. Golden U. Gallup
• B-25 #36: 2^nd Lt. Edgar N. Gentry; 2^nd Lt. Donald G. O’Leary; Staff Sgt. Edward M. Cooning; Sgt. William H. Johnson; Staff Sgt. Robert D. Shaak
• B-25 #41: 1^st Lt. Charles F. Whiffen; 2^nd Lt. Edward J. Pawlowski; 1^st Lt. Charles J. Bethea; 2^nd Lt. Robert D. Guma; Tech Sgt. Karl H. May; Sgt. Jack L. Gould
• B-25 #46: 1^st Lt. Daniel Manley; 2^nd Lt. William F. Angell; 2^nd Lt. Raymond J. Mazanowski; 2^nd Lt. Paul J. Diekmann; Tech Sgt. Thomas R. Touchstone; Tech Sgt. Frank E. Osborne
• B-25 #54: 2^nd Lt. Richard R. Rouse; 2^nd Lt. John M. Overstreet; 2^nd Lt. Ralph Kamhi; Staff Sgt. Henry M. Ellis; Staff Sgt. William V. Vickery
• B-25 #55: Lt. Col. Morris F. Taber; 2^nd Lt. Clifford T. Schapansky; 1^st Lt. Joseph F. Dockwiller; 1^st Lt. Guy P. Baird Jr.; Tech Sgt. George W. Gouldthrite; Staff Sgt. Louis L. Lucas; Staff Sgt. George J. Atack
• B-25 #56: 2^nd Lt. Robert A. Nice; 2^nd Lt. Earle F. Kane; 2^nd Lt. Robert B. Fischborn; Staff Sgt. Eugene E. Banzhof; Staff Sgt. James T. Hopkins
• B-25 #57: 2^nd Lt. Herbert F. Hempe; 2^nd Lt. Dow J. Richter; Sgt. Rafael C. Arellano; Sgt. Martin S. Waite; Staff Sgt. Michael Barnick; [no rank given] E.O. Hauser
• B-25 #61: Captain Don H. Milan; 2^nd Lt. LeRoy J. Fontaine; 1^st Lt. Glee G. Smith; 2^nd Lt. Clyde H. Wells; Tech Sgt. Joe Edmonson; Staff Sgt. Clair G. Archer; Sgt. Herbert G. Passarine
• B-25 #68: 2^nd Lt. James T. Hartnet; 2^nd Lt. Richard L. Edwards; 2^nd Lt. Seaborn V. Howard; Staff Sgt. Marino R. Galluzzo; Staff Sgt. Arthur B. Smith

ORDNANCE EXPENDED:

• B-25s: 48 x 500-pound demolition bombs and 24 x 136-pound incendiary clusters
• P-40s: Two 500-pound bombs and 800 rounds of .50-caliber machine-gun ammunition (strafing)

RESULTS:

• B-25s set Lai Chi Kok oil tank farm ablaze and the resultant smoke plume rises three miles high. 
• P-40 pilots claim to hit a tanker with one 500-pound bomb; they also strafe at least two “fire barges” trying to put out the fire at Lai Chi Kok.

JAPANESE UNITS, AIRCRAFT, AND PILOTS: Six to eight Japanese fighters, possibly from the 25^th or 33^rd sentai.

AIRCRAFT LOSSES: P-40 pilots and B-25 gunners claim to shoot down three intercepting Japanese fighters.  Japanese records do not record any pilots lost on this date over Hong Kong, however.

SOURCES:

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

• Japanese Army Fighter Aces, 1931-45, by Ikuhiko Hata, Yasuho Izawa, and Christopher Shores

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).

Notes:

2/9/43 - Ferry + Bus   .50
           - James School Fee (Sept)   4.-
3/9/43 - Rickshaw 1/2 share   .60
           - Sarah to see Bea in Hosp.   7.-

Supporting information:

• List of translations and abbreviations
• List of foods

Mrs. S. Mason (Block 4, Room 25P) writes a card to Miss Isobel Wavell in Farnham Common (Buckinghamshire):

Darlings,

We are very anxious for news of you both as we have not had a line up to date.

We are all very well and do hope you are. It's all very worrying, isn't it? Still we are making the most of this extraordinary life. We only hope the fashions are streamlined when we meet again, which we hope will be soon.

You are constantly in our minds, as are also the old times we spent together.

Source:
David Tett, Captives In Cathay, 2007, 149

After midday raid. Great oil fire Laichikok burned couple of hours. Second alarm 5 p.m. Brief alert.

Fine & hot.

Choir practice at St Stephens 11-noon.

Air-raid & either oil tanker or A.P.C. hit. Immense clouds of smoke (white over Stanley mound) 1.40PM.

Played crib with Steve pm.

Colony to be attacked within 2 weeks?

New moon. Fire still burning.