March 1944

18^th

William Uyen is still on leave after his crash so this night there is no operation planned for William.

846 aircraft - 620 Lancasters, 209 Halifaxes, 17 Mosquitos - to Frankfurt. The German fighter force was again split. One part was lured north by the Heligoland mining operation but the second part waited in Germany and met the bomber stream just before the target was reached, although cloud made it difficult for these fighters to achieve much success. 22 aircraft - 12 Halifaxes, 10 Lancasters - were lost, 2.6 per cent of the force. The Pathfinders marked the target accurately and this led to heavy bombing of eastern, central and western districts of Frankfurt. The later phases of the bombing were scattered but this was almost inevitable with such a large force; new crews were usually allocated to the final waves.

17 Mosquitos to airfields in Holland, Belgium and France, 98 aircraft on minelaying diversion in the Heligoland area, 11 Mosquitos on a diversion raid to Kassel, 4 RCM sorties, 13 Serrate patrols. No
aircraft were lost and the Serrate Mosquitos claimed 3 Ju88s destroyed.

19 Lancasters of No 5 Group (including 13 aircraft from No 617 Squadron) on an accurate raid of an explosives factory at Bergerac in France, 12 Mosquitos to Aachen, Dortmund and Duisburg, 8 aircraft on Resistance operations, 18 OTU sorties

Squadron 78

24 aircraft detailed for operations, Target Frankfurt.
4 aircraft did not take off.
16 aircraft reached and attacked the target.
The Weather in the region: Cloudy with intermittent rain at noon and dusk. Visibility 3-6 miles at first improving to 10-15 miles during the morning.
The ground crew prepared the LW518, HX355, LV788, LV820,
LV903, LK749, LW547, LV795, LV901, LW512, HX241, LV899,
LV872, LV877 (with Sgt. LeBlanc), LV876, LV868, LV905,
LW511, LW520 and LK762 for take off.

March 18^th, 1944

Returned early

LW518

returned early owing to starboard outer engine being u/s.
and low oil pressure.
Furthest point reached South-East of Lille At 50.55N/03.13E
Bombs jettisoned safe in the sea.

Returned early

LK749 EY-J

returned early owing to navigational, GEE and S.B.A.
problems.
Furthest point reached just outside the coast of England
at 53.40N/00.40E were the bombs were jettisoned safe in sea.

Returned early

LW547

returned early owing to being hit by flak,
Bombs jettisoned safe in the sea.
Landed at Ford on return.

Returned early

LV877

returned early owing to starboard inner engine and
constant speed unit unserviceable.
Landed at Bungay on return.

In Combat

LV876 EY-T

The primary target was attacked and bombed at 22.01 hour
at a height of 21.500 feet. No results observed owing to mist.

For as Combat report: Rear Gunner Sgt. Gettings first observed enemy aircraft on the
fine port quarter level at 1000 yards range on 21.000 feet at
22:05 hour at 49.56N / 08.48E north of Mannheim.
He warned pilot F/L Hurley and as enemy aircraft closed in to
7-800 yards he gave the order to corkscrew to port.
Enemy aircraft opened fire at 600 yards with a short burst
and both Gunners returned fire. The enemy aircraft was
identified as an M.E.210 which closed in to within 400 yards
range when he broke away to starboard quarter down
and was lost sight of.
Both gunners had stoppages. R/G had 3 no. 3 2s. M/U 1 no. 1 witch were all cleared immediately after enemy aircraft had broken away.

March, 1944

19^th

No operations or standby for squadron 78

20^th

11 aircraft detailed for operations, Later cancelled.
Weather in the country: Fine at first, cloudy with rain in the morning.

21^st

11 aircraft detailed for operations, Later cancelled.
Weather in the country: Cloudy with rain and drizzle.