OBJECTIVE: Bomb Tien Ho airbase in Canton
TIME OVER TARGET: ~1:00 p.m.
AMERICAN UNITS AND AIRCRAFT: Ten B-25s from the 11th Bomb Squadron (341st Medium Bomb Group) escorted by 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: Unknown, but includes at least one Chinese pilot attached to the 74th Fighter Squadron
- B-25 #09: 2nd Lt. Carl J. LaValle; 2nd Lt. Richard L. Edwards; 2nd Lt. Wayne J. Aberle; Staff Sgt. Robert A. Petrucelli; Staff Sgt. Lambert B. Rebstack
- B-25 #36: 1st Lt. James C. Rautt; 2nd Lt. Richard R. Rouse; Staff Sgt. Edward M. Cooning; Staff Sgt. Henry M. Ellis; Staff Sgt. William V. Vickery
- B-25 #39: 2nd Lt. Edward J. Pawlowski; 2nd Lt. John M. Overstreet; 2nd Lt. Seaborn V. Howard; Staff Sgt. Ray T. Hamilton; Staff Sgt. Earl F. Fester
- B-25 #41: 1st Lt. Charles F. Whiffen; 1st Lt. Edgar N. Gentry; 1st Lt. Charles J. Bethea; 2nd Lt. Robert D. Guma; Tech Sgt. Karl H. May; Staff Sgt. Robert E. Johnson
- B-25 #46: 1st Lt. Daniel Manley; 2nd Lt. LeRoy J. Fontaine; 2nd Lt. Raymond J. Mazanowski; 1st Lt. Paul J. Diekmann; Tech Sgt. Thomas R. Touchstone; Tech Sgt. Frank E. Osborne
- B-25 #56: 1st Lt. Clifford T. Schapansky; 2nd Lt. Dow J. Richter; 2nd Lt. Frank H. Gibson; Staff Sgt. Eugene E. Banzhof; Staff Sgt. Michael Barnick
- B-25 #57: 2nd Lt. Herbert F. Hempe; 1st Lt. Richard C. Battle; 2nd Lt. Ralph Kamhi; Staff Sgt. Carl S. Penka; Staff Sgt. Gale B. Cehill
- B-25 #61: Captain Joseph L. Skeldon; 2nd Lt. Robert A. Nice; 1st Lt. Glee G. Smyth; 2nd Lt. Clyde H. Wells; Tech Sgt. Joe Edmonson; Staff Sgt. Clair G. Archer; Sgt. Herbert G. Passarine
- B-25 #68: 2nd Lt. George T. Grottle; 2nd Lt. Donald G. O’Leary; 2nd Lt. Robert B. Fischborn; Staff Sgt. Loren Morris; Staff Sgt. Golden U. Gallup
- B-25 #88: 1st Lt. William A. Brenner; 2nd Lt. Earle F. Kane; 1st Lt. Charles H. Dearth; Staff Sgt. Charles J. Wilder; Staff Sgt. Walter J. Schexnayder
ORDNANCE EXPENDED: 84 x 192-pound M-3 fragmentation clusters and 36 x 100-pound demolition bombs
RESULTS: B-25 crews report 90% of bombs falling in target area, but weather prevents damage assessment
JAPANESE UNITS, AIRCRAFT, AND PILOTS: An estimated eight to 15 fighters intercept the American formation, most likely from the 85th Sentai.
AIRCRAFT LOSSES: Accurate antiaircraft fire damages one B-25, which returns safely to Kweilin. P-40 pilots claim to shoot down up to four Japanese fighters, though Japanese records do not record any pilots lost 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.
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).