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

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

Date(s) of events described: 
Wed, 11 Nov 1942
OBJECTIVE: Reconnaissance flight over Canton and Hong Kong

TIME OVER TARGET: ~3:30 p.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 A. O’Neill and 2nd Lt. George V. Pyles

ORDNANCE EXPENDED: None

RESULTS: Canton obscured by cloud cover.  Pilots observe one destroyer and four medium-sized ships in Victoria Harbor.

JAPANESE UNITS, AIRCRAFT, AND PILOTS: Three aircraft from unknown unit attempt to intercept the P-40s, but are unable to close within firing range

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).