OBJECTIVE: Bomb HK & Whampoa dockyard
TIME OVER TARGET: ~7:45 a.m.
AMERICAN UNITS AND AIRCRAFT: Eight B-25s from the 11th Bomb Squadron (341st Medium Bomb Group) and seven P-40s from the 74th Fighter Squadron (23rd Fighter Group). All aircraft are from the 14th Air Force.
AMERICAN PILOTS AND AIRCREW:
- P-40s: Colonel Bruce K. Holloway; Captain Arthur W. Cruikshank; Lt. Anderson; 1st Lt. Harlyn Vidovich; Lt. Hendrickson; Lt. Meyer; Lt. Robert M. Cage
- B-25 #55: Lt. Col. Morris F. Taber; Captain Robert E. Davis; 1st Lt. Daniel Manley; 1st Lt. Abe Schestopol; Tech Sgt. George W. Gouldthrite; Staff Sgt. Louis L. Lucas; Staff Sgt. George J. Atack
- B-25 #61: 1st Lt. Charles F. Whiffen; 2nd Lt. Jack E. Booth; 2nd Lt. Raymond J. Mazanowski; 2nd Lt. Robert D. Guma; Tech Sgt. Karl H. May; Tech Sgt. Alvin P. Schmolt
- B-25 #56: 2nd Lt. Edward J. Palowski; 2nd Lt. Dow J. Richter; 2nd Lt. George E. Dykstra; Staff Sgt. Robert C. Appleby; Staff Sgt. Louis L. Steiner
- B-25 #41: Captain Don H. Milam; 2nd Lt. LeRoy J. Fontaine; 1st Lt. Joseph F. Dockwiller; 1st Lt. Guy P. Baird, Jr.; Tech Sgt. Joe Edmonson; Sgt. Kenneth C. Prothe; Sgt. Kenneth C. Passarino
- B-25 #68: 2nd Lt. Clifford T. Schapansky; Flight Officer Leroy J. Goode; 2nd Lt. Wayne J. Aberle; Staff Sgt. W. Bernert; Staff Sgt. Hadsell D. Barnhouse
- B-25 #09: Flight Officer William C. Arnold; Flight Officer Richard M. Gramling; Sgt. Rafael C. Arellano; Corporal Everett F. Hamilton; Staff Sgt. Michael Barnick
- B-25 #36: 2nd Lt. William M. Henry; 2nd Lt. William A. Brenner; 2nd Lt. Seaborn V. Howard; Staff Sgt. Ray T. Hamilton; Sgt. James T. Borgia
- B-25 #65: 2nd Lt. James J. Harnett; 2nd Lt. Richard C. Battle; 2nd Lt. Robert E. Fischborn; Staff Sgt. Marino R. Galluzzo; Staff Sgt. Arthur B. Smith
ORDNANCE EXPENDED: 45 500-pound general-purpose bombs
RESULTS: Numerous bomb hits on HK & Whampoa dockyard. Bomber crews report direct hits on one ship in dry dock and another tied up at a pier.
JAPANESE UNITS, AIRCRAFT, AND PILOTS: No Japanese fighters intercept, but at least two transport planes are spotted by American pilots
AIRCRAFT LOSSES: No American aircraft are lost. B-25 gunner Staff Sgt. Arthur B. Smith is credited with shooting down a twin-engine transport plane over Hong Kong with a burst of .50-caliber machine-gun slugs fired at extreme range.
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).