OBJECTIVE: Fly nocturnal sea sweep mission to detect and sink Japanese ships in the South China Sea.
RESULTS: Aircraft commander aborts sea sweep when radar unit fails. He attempts to bomb the secondary target, the Kowloon docks, but the bombardier fumbles the bomb run. Rain and fully alerted antiaircraft defenses preclude another bomb run. Clouds and rain prevent bomb run on Canton targets as well. Aircraft returns to base with a full bomb load.
TIME OVER TARGET: Unknown, but presumably after nightfall
AMERICAN UNITS AND AIRCRAFT: One B-24
AMERICAN PILOTS AND AIRCREW: Major Killam
ORDNANCE EXPENDED: None
JAPANESE UNITS, AIRCRAFT, AND PILOTS: None
AIRCRAFT LOSSES: None
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).