OBJECTIVE: Reconnaissance flight over Canton, San Chau, and Hong Kong
TIME OVER TARGET: ~9:00 a.m.
AMERICAN UNITS AND AIRCRAFT: Two P-40E1s from 16th Fighter Squadron (23rd Fighter Group, China Air Task Force, 10th Air Force)
AMERICAN PILOTS AND AIRCREW: 1st Lt. Robert E. Smith; 2nd Lt. Melvin B. Kimball
ORDNANCE EXPENDED: None
RESULTS: Canton obscured by cloud cover. No aircraft spotted on the ground at airfield on San Chau. Nine freighters observed in Victoria Harbor along with numerous small craft. Pilots also noted the ongoing construction work at Kai Tak, where the runway was being extended.
JAPANESE UNITS, AIRCRAFT, AND PILOTS: None observed
AIRCRAFT LOSSES: None
SOURCES: Original mission report 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).