OBJECTIVE: Fly a series of staggered single-aircraft night raids to harass Tien Ho airbase at Canton and prevent JAAF pilots from flying night bombing missions against American airbases in China.
RESULTS: Due to weather conditions, no B-25s hit Tien Ho airbase. Instead, they strike alternate targets that include the town of Wuchow (six aircraft), river traffic (one aircraft), and White Cloud airbase (two aircraft). The bombing ignites large fires in Wuchow.
TIME OVER TARGET: ~6:40 to 8:30 p.m.
AMERICAN UNITS AND AIRCRAFT: Eight B-25s from the 491st Bomb Squadron (341st Medium Bomb Group)
AMERICAN PILOTS AND AIRCREW:
- B-25H #43-4159: 1st Lt. F.O. Cullen; 1st Lt. R.K. Shaw; Staff Sgt. W.S. Faulkner; Staff Sgt. S.W. McDonald; Staff Sgt. M. Bogel
- B-25D #43-3291: 1st Lt. E.M. Hexberg; Lt. Col. J.K. Hester; 1st Lt. S.D. Brown; 2nd Lt. H.S. Olson; Staff Sgt. W.M. Gornik; Tech Sgt. R.W. Hirtle; Staff Sgt. O.A. Harper; Capt. E.L. Carey
- B-25H #43-4361: 1st Lt. J.E. Andrews; 1st Lt. F.J. Belot; Staff Sgt. G.A. Penney; Tech Sgt. J.W. Schmitt; Staff Sgt. W.R. Green
- B-25H #43-4602: 1st Lt. J.H. Shields; 2nd Lt. R.V. Zaloudek; Staff Sgt. L.C. Jones; Tech Sgt. H.E. Gordon; Staff Sgt. R.D. Driscoll
- B-25H #43-4319: 1st Lt. K.R. Bridges; 1st Lt. A.J. White; Staff Sgt. J.T. Young; Tech Sgt. J.H. Starling; Staff Sgt. H.R. Lehmann
- B-25J #43-3904: Captain R.G. Hunt; 2nd Lt. G.G. Mann; 2nd Lt. S. Mazer; 1st Lt. R.E. Allen; Staff Sgt. M.E. Vollmer; Tech Sgt. J.B. Clark; Staff Sgt. A.L. Matos
- B-25D #43-3288: 1st Lt. P.J. Ley; 2nd Lt. W.R. Briggs; 1st Lt. W.W. Merrill; 1st Lt. H.R. Edelman; Staff Sgt. F. Norkus; Tech Sgt. R.L. Koenig; Sgt. G.D. Tanchum
- B-25J #43-4604: 1st Lt. R.M. Blake; 2nd Lt. A.E. Armstrong; 1st Lt. R.J. Kacik; 2nd Lt. T.F. Jordan; Staff Sgt. F.W. Konkolics; Staff Sgt. W.C. Cheverie; Staff Sgt. A.J. Quinn
ORDNANCE EXPENDED: 152 x 100-pound fragmentation cluster bombs (M1-A1)
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).