OBJECTIVE: Bomb HK & Whampoa dockyard
TIME OVER TARGET: ~12:40 p.m.
AMERICAN UNITS AND AIRCRAFT: Fourteen B-24s from 323rd, 325th, and 425th Bomb Squadrons (308th Heavy Bomb Group). Fighter escort consists of seven P-40s from the 74th Fighter Squadron and ten P-38s from the 449th Fighter Squadron (23rd Fighter Group). All aircraft are from the 14th Air Force.
AMERICAN PILOTS AND AIRCREW:
- P-38s: Captain Sam Palmer; 1st Lt. Lewden Enslen; 1st Lt. [Robert?] Schultz; 1st Lt. Moon; 2nd Lt. Earl E. Helms
- P-40s: Col. Clinton D. Vincent; 2nd Lt. Altheus B. Jarmon; Lt. Slay; 1st Lt. Lynn F. Jones; Lt. Lundy; Lt. Bennett; Lt. T.Y. Cheng
- B-24s: Major Henry G. Brady (commander); Staff Sgt. Smith; Staff Sgt. Spencer; Tech Sgt. Donahue (gunners)
- B-24 #413: 1st Lt. P.C. Keish; Flight Officer H.B. Tyra; 2nd Lt. H.V. Smith; 2nd Lt. D.A. Peterson; Tech Sgt. J.R. Ferguson; Staff Sgt. A.A. Dykes; Pfc. R.O. Watson; Staff Sgt. H.L. Berkowitz; Staff Sgt. A.D. McQuary; Staff Sgt. L. Hayford
ORDNANCE EXPENDED: 56 500-pound high-explosive bombs
RESULTS: Bomber crews estimate between 75 to 85 percent of bombs fall within the target area, damaging one ship in dry dock and two smaller vessels. At least four stray bombs hit godowns on the northeast coast of Hong Kong Island.
JAPANESE UNITS, AIRCRAFT, AND PILOTS: An estimated 7 to 20 Japanese fighter aircraft attempt to intercept the B-24s. The units involved are unknown, but may have included pilots from the 25th, 33rd, and 85th sentai flying Ki-43-II and Ki-44-II fighters.
AIRCRAFT LOSSES:
- B-24 #413 develops engine trouble on return flight. Eight of the ten men aboard bail out to lighten the load, and the ship returns safely to Kunming. The eight crewmen eventually return to their unit.
- One P-40 piloted by Lt. T. Y. Cheng crash lands due to unspecified causes. Cheng apparently walks away from the wreck, but the condition of his aircraft is unknown.
- B-24 gunners claim to shoot down two enemy fighters. P-40 pilots claim to shoot down one fighter, plus one probable. A P-38 pilot claims one enemy fighter destroyed. Actual Japanese losses are unknown, though existing records indicate no Japanese pilots are killed over Canton on this date.
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).