OBJECTIVE: Bomb Kowloon docks and godowns
TIME OVER TARGET: Due to heavy cloud cover, the bombers do not reach the target
AMERICAN UNITS AND AIRCRAFT: Nine B-25s from the 11th Bomb Squadron (341st Medium Bomb Group) and an unspecified number of escorting fighters, probably from the 74th and/or 449th Fighter Squadron (23rd Fighter Group). All aircraft are from the 14th Air Force.
AMERICAN PILOTS AND AIRCREW: Lt. Goode; 2nd Lt. Edward J. Pawlowski; Staff Sgt. Robert C. Appleby; Sgt. Golden U. Gallup; Tech Sgt. George W. Gouldthrite; Staff Sgt. J.J. O’Connel
ORDNANCE EXPENDED: No bombs are dropped.
RESULTS: None
JAPANESE UNITS, AIRCRAFT, AND PILOTS: Up to ten enemy fighters intercept the B-25s, probably from the 25th, 33rd, or 85th Sentai.
AIRCRAFT LOSSES: B-25 gunners claim to shoot down up to five enemy fighters, though Japanese records do no indicate any pilots were lost over the Pearl River delta on this date. The escorting American fighters fail to rendezvous with the B-25s due to the poor weather and do not engage the Japanese fighters.
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).