25 Aug 1943, WW2 Air Raids over Hong Kong & South China

OBJECTIVE: Bomb HK & Whampoa dockyard

TIME OVER TARGET: ~7:45 a.m.

AMERICAN UNITS AND AIRCRAFT: Eight B-25s from the 11^th Bomb Squadron (341^st Medium Bomb Group) and seven P-40s from the 74^th Fighter Squadron (23^rd Fighter Group).  All aircraft are from the 14^th Air Force.

AMERICAN PILOTS AND AIRCREW:

• P-40s: Colonel Bruce K. Holloway; Captain Arthur W. Cruikshank; Lt. Anderson; 1^st Lt. Harlyn Vidovich; Lt. Hendrickson; Lt. Meyer; Lt. Robert M. Cage
• B-25 #55: Lt. Col. Morris F. Taber; Captain Robert E. Davis; 1^st Lt. Daniel Manley; 1^st Lt. Abe Schestopol; Tech Sgt. George W. Gouldthrite; Staff Sgt. Louis L. Lucas; Staff Sgt. George J. Atack
• B-25 #61: 1^st Lt. Charles F. Whiffen; 2^nd Lt. Jack E. Booth; 2^nd Lt. Raymond J. Mazanowski; 2^nd Lt. Robert D. Guma; Tech Sgt. Karl H. May; Tech Sgt. Alvin P. Schmolt
• B-25 #56: 2^nd Lt. Edward J. Palowski; 2^nd Lt. Dow J. Richter; 2^nd Lt. George E. Dykstra; Staff Sgt. Robert C. Appleby; Staff Sgt. Louis L. Steiner
• B-25 #41: Captain Don H. Milam; 2^nd Lt. LeRoy J. Fontaine; 1^st Lt. Joseph F. Dockwiller; 1^st Lt. Guy P. Baird, Jr.; Tech Sgt. Joe Edmonson; Sgt. Kenneth C. Prothe; Sgt. Kenneth C. Passarino
• B-25 #68: 2^nd Lt. Clifford T. Schapansky; Flight Officer Leroy J. Goode; 2^nd Lt. Wayne J. Aberle; Staff Sgt. W. Bernert; Staff Sgt. Hadsell D. Barnhouse
• B-25 #09: Flight Officer William C. Arnold; Flight Officer Richard M. Gramling; Sgt. Rafael C. Arellano; Corporal Everett F. Hamilton; Staff Sgt. Michael Barnick
• B-25 #36: 2^nd Lt. William M. Henry; 2^nd Lt. William A. Brenner; 2^nd Lt. Seaborn V. Howard; Staff Sgt. Ray T. Hamilton; Sgt. James T. Borgia
• B-25 #65: 2^nd Lt. James J. Harnett; 2^nd Lt. Richard C. Battle; 2^nd Lt. Robert E. Fischborn; Staff Sgt. Marino R. Galluzzo; Staff Sgt. Arthur B. Smith

ORDNANCE EXPENDED: 45 500-pound general-purpose bombs

RESULTS: Numerous bomb hits on HK & Whampoa dockyard.  Bomber crews report direct hits on one ship in dry dock and another tied up at a pier.

JAPANESE UNITS, AIRCRAFT, AND PILOTS: No Japanese fighters intercept, but at least two transport planes are spotted by American pilots

AIRCRAFT LOSSES: No American aircraft are lost.  B-25 gunner Staff Sgt. Arthur B. Smith is credited with shooting down a twin-engine transport plane over Hong Kong with a burst of .50-caliber machine-gun slugs fired at extreme range.

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).