70 years ago: Hong Kong's wartime diaries

Death of Bruna Rose Humphreys aged 55.

Note:

The Camp Roll at the Yahoo Stanley Group lists Alfred David Humphreys as B. R.'s husband, but this is contradicted by the list at Hong Kong War Diary, which states that A. D.'s wife was that Elizabeth who died at Tweed Bay Hospital on 8.5. 43, and by Mundia, which suggests that she (B.R.) was the wife of internee Ernest Humphreys (born 1884:)

http://www.hongkongwardiary.com/searchgarrison/nonuniformedcivilians.htm...

http://www.mundia.com/cn/Person/16469794/1101015898

Dow / Myhill ((sp?))

Death – Bruna Rose Humphreys (55), wife of Ernest Humphreys.

OBJECTIVE: Reconnaissance flight over Canton and Hong Kong

RESULTS: Numerous reconnaissance photos taken of Tien Ho airbase in Canton and Kai Tak airbase and Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong.  Pilot observes thirteen large ships in Victoria Harbor.

TIME OVER TARGET: ~12:15 p.m.

AMERICAN UNITS AND AIRCRAFT: One F-5B (#262) from Flight B, 21^st Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron

AMERICAN PILOTS AND AIRCREW: Lt. Stevenson

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).

OBJECTIVE: Bomb aircraft revetments at White Cloud airbase in Canton

RESULTS: Bombers claim to destroy six to seven enemy aircraft in revetments and inflict additional damage on buildings and other installations at the airbase

TIME OVER TARGET: ~2:50 p.m.

AMERICAN UNITS AND AIRCRAFT: Twenty-eight B-24s from all four squadrons (373^rd, 374^th, 375^th, and 425^th) of the 308^th Heavy Bomb Group escorted by 50 fighter aircraft from the following squadrons:

• 26^th Fighter Squadron: Fourteen P-51s
• 76^th Fighter Squadron: Eight P-51s and fifteen P-40s
• 118^th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron: Ten P-51s and three P-40s

AMERICAN PILOTS AND AIRCREW:

• 26^th FS: Major Holman, Lt. Blankenship, Lt. Ashmore, Lt. Porter, Lt. Kramer, Lt. Spainhour, Lt. Barr, Lt. Hamilton, Lt. Machim, Lt. Gamble, Lt. Duffy, Lt. Wilson, Lt. Scearcy
• 76^th FS: Major Slocumb, 2^nd Lt. Jerome F. Eisenman, Lt. Trecartin, Lt. Eldridge, Lt. Thompson, Lt. Baker, Lt. Moore, Lt. Anderson, all in P-51s; Lt. La Tourelle, Lt. Wheeler, Lt. Rust, Lt. Kirkpatrick, Lt. Ward, Lt. Riley, Lt. Taylor, Lt. Joyner, Capt. Craig, Lt. Li, Lt. Siefer, Lt. Johnson, Lt. Krywy, Lt. Kitterman, Lt. McCarter, all in P-40s.  Though flying with the 76^th FS on this mission, the pilots belong to the 16^th FS, 75^th FS, 76^th FS of the 23^rd Fighter Group and the 5^th Fighter Group of the CACW.
• 118^th FS: Major Edward O. McComas, Lt. Crowell, Lt. Wegman, Lt. Murray, Lt. Denton, Lt. Miehe, Lt. Smith, Lt. Bushong, Lt. Pearsall, Lt. Greene, Lt. Colleps, Lt. Martinez, Lt. Griswald
• 308^th BG: Formation is led by Major James S. “Jack” Edney; pilots include 2^nd Lt. Elmer E. Haynes

ORDNANCE EXPENDED: 850 x M1A1 100-pound fragmentation cluster bombs (25 of the 28 B-24s release their bombs over the target)

JAPANESE UNITS, AIRCRAFT, AND PILOTS: A small number of 85^th Sentai pilots flying Ki-44s and Ki-84s attempt to intercept the B-24s, but are intercepted by P-51s escorting the bombers.

AIRCRAFT LOSSES:

• Sgt. Major Hiroji Shimoda and Sgt. Tatsuji Uebo are killed when they are shot down by American fighter aircraft. 
• Warrant Office Akiyoshi Nomura in a Ki-84 bails out after getting shot up, but he is rescued by friendly Chinese and returns to his unit. 
• A P-51 flown by 2^nd Lt. Jerome F. Eisenman of the 76^th FS is shot down by Japanese pilots, though Eisenman bails out and eventually returns to his unit, also with the help of friendly Chinese.

SOURCES:

• Original mission reports and other documents in the Air Force Historical Research Agency archives at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama. 
• Japanese Army Fighter Aces, 1931-45, by Ikuhiko Hata, Yasuho Izawa, and Christopher Shores

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).

OBJECTIVE: Reconnaissance flight over Canton and Hong Kong

RESULTS: Cloud cover obscures Canton and Hong Kong from view, but recon photos are taken of Samshui.

TIME OVER TARGET: ~4:00 p.m.

AMERICAN UNITS AND AIRCRAFT: One F-5E (#287) from Flight B, 21^st Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron

AMERICAN PILOTS AND AIRCREW: Lt. Campbell

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).