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

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

Date(s) of events described: 
Sun, 22 Nov 1942

 

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

TIME OVER TARGET: ~Noon

AMERICAN UNITS AND AIRCRAFT: One P-43 Lancer on loan to the 75th Fighter Squadron (23rd Fighter Group, China Air Task Force, 10th Air Force) from the Chinese Air Force.

AMERICAN PILOTS AND AIRCREW: 1st Lt. Roger C. Pryor

ORDNANCE EXPENDED: None

RESULTS: No aircraft sighted at San Chau airfield.   An estimated 45 fighter aircraft observed at White Cloud airbase in Canton.  Fifteen aircraft counted at Kai Tak.  Pilot counted 17 ships in Victoria Harbor, plus additional vessels in dry dock.

JAPANESE UNITS, AIRCRAFT, AND PILOTS: Japanese fighters did not attempt to intercept

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).