03 Nov 1942, WW2 Air Raids over Hong Kong & South China | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

03 Nov 1942, WW2 Air Raids over Hong Kong & South China

Date(s) of events described: 
Tue, 3 Nov 1942

OBJECTIVE: Reconnaissance flight over Canton, San Chau, and Hong Kong

TIME OVER TARGET: ~9:00 a.m.

AMERICAN UNITS AND AIRCRAFT: Two P-40E1s from 16th Fighter Squadron (23rd Fighter Group, China Air Task Force, 10th Air Force)

AMERICAN PILOTS AND AIRCREW: 1st Lt. Robert E. Smith; 2nd Lt. Melvin B. Kimball

ORDNANCE EXPENDED: None

RESULTS: Canton obscured by cloud cover.  No aircraft spotted on the ground at airfield on San Chau.  Nine freighters observed in Victoria Harbor along with numerous small craft.  Pilots also noted the ongoing construction work at Kai Tak, where the runway was being extended.

JAPANESE UNITS, AIRCRAFT, AND PILOTS: None observed

AIRCRAFT LOSSES: None

SOURCES: Original mission report 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).