Diary pages from this date

James O'Toole in Shamshuipo:

Sent letter to Alan (Barwell) & 1 yen. There is some talk of them being sent away, hope so, for news of my safety & well being to reach England....

Now allowed to write 25 words on a p.c. twice in three months, to Stanley counting as a turn. Letters come in every Sunday as a rule.

Source:

O'Toole Shamshuipo Diary at

http://www.far-eastern-heroes.org.uk/James_OToole/html/dairy_1943.htm

Note on November 12 O'Toole notes:

Letter from Alan. Very cheerful & fit has heard from home and Betty (Barwell, his wife).

Raid at 11.05 pm

About 11 p.m. sound of plane. Then screech. Then big bang. A bomb, long trajectory across roofs. Siren late. Apparently one or two raiders and bombs for godowns and Kowloon Docks. Next day saw seven big four-engined bombers pass over sedately. Flak low.

Fine, warm.

Hill fire on Is. S of HK out by early am.

Sound of gunfire from N.Ts all day.

With Steve pm.

Ground rice & mended straps am.

Fed up.

Raid on Kowloon 11pm & some very heavy stuff dropped. No opposition from Japs except a little useless, belated AA fire & one plane flying around low after our chaps had gone. (Quite in keeping with their invincibility & indomitable fighting spirit, & their unfailing qualities that enable them to knock down our chaps at least 8 to 1 Ha Ha!!

OBJECTIVE: Bomb Kowloon docks and mine Victoria Harbor

TIME OVER TARGET: ~11:00 p.m.

AMERICAN UNITS AND AIRCRAFT: Twenty B-24s from the 373^rd, 374^th, 375^th and 425^th Bomb Squadrons (308^th Heavy Bomb Group)

AMERICAN PILOTS AND AIRCREW:

• B-24 #183: Captain Sam J. Skousen; Captain James S. “Jack” Edney; 1^st Lt. Ralph E. Bower; 1^st Lt. Daniel J. Palmer; 1^st Lt. Malcolm S. Sanders; Tech Sgt. Arthur J. Benko; Tech Sgt. Robert M. Kirk; Tech Sgt. A.L. Flaherty; Tech Sgt. W.J. Novak; Staff Sgt. Casper J. Chirieleison
• B-24 #409: 1^st Lt. Wyndham M. Manning; 2^nd Lt. Milton H. Werner; 2^nd Lt. Winfred A. Cates; 2^nd Lt. Harold M. Thomas; Tech Sgt. Anastacio M. Contreras; Staff Sgt. Norman E. Bonds; Staff Sgt. Orla M. Reichel; Staff Sgt. Paul E. Ebner; Staff Sgt. James J. Garrott
• B-24 #826: 2^nd Lt. James P. Gilbert; 2^nd Lt. Linus J. Austin; 2^nd Lt. Donald G. Richardson; 2^nd Lt. John W. Grosbeck; Tech Sgt. Harold W. Case; Staff Sgt. Barton W. Owens; Staff Sgt. Patsy Gerrone; Staff Sgt. Arthur Regal; Staff Sgt. John Orovecz; Staff Sgt. Clifford T. Hamilton

ORDNANCE EXPENDED: 61 x 500-pound bombs and 18 x 1,000-pound anti-ship mines (some B-24s fail to find target and return to base with bombs and mines still aboard)

RESULTS: Bomb damage to Kowloon docks is unknown.  Mines are dropped in Kellet and Lei Yue Mun channels.

JAPANESE UNITS, AIRCRAFT, AND PILOTS: None

AIRCRAFT LOSSES:

• B-24 #409 and #826 crash on the return flight, apparently due to fuel exhaustion.  All crewmen bail out and eventually return to their unit.
• B-24 #183 loses two engines and seven of the ten crewmen bail out.  1^st Lt. Sanders and Tech Sgt. Benko are captured after landing in enemy territory.  #183 makes the field at Kweilin despite the loss of two engines.

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).