04 Sept 1943, WW2 Air Raids over Hong Kong & South China

OBJECTIVE: Bomb Tien Ho airbase in Canton

TIME OVER TARGET: ~1:00 p.m.

AMERICAN UNITS AND AIRCRAFT: Ten B-25s from the 11^th Bomb Squadron (341^st Medium Bomb Group) escorted by 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: Unknown, but includes at least one Chinese pilot attached to the 74^th Fighter Squadron
• B-25 #09: 2^nd Lt. Carl J. LaValle; 2^nd Lt. Richard L. Edwards; 2^nd Lt. Wayne J. Aberle; Staff Sgt. Robert A. Petrucelli; Staff Sgt. Lambert B. Rebstack
• B-25 #36: 1^st Lt. James C. Rautt; 2^nd Lt. Richard R. Rouse; Staff Sgt. Edward M. Cooning; Staff Sgt. Henry M. Ellis; Staff Sgt. William V. Vickery
• B-25 #39: 2^nd Lt. Edward J. Pawlowski; 2^nd Lt. John M. Overstreet; 2^nd Lt. Seaborn V. Howard; Staff Sgt. Ray T. Hamilton; Staff Sgt. Earl F. Fester
• B-25 #41: 1^st Lt. Charles F. Whiffen; 1^st Lt. Edgar N. Gentry; 1^st Lt. Charles J. Bethea; 2^nd Lt. Robert D. Guma; Tech Sgt. Karl H. May; Staff Sgt. Robert E. Johnson
• B-25 #46: 1^st Lt. Daniel Manley; 2^nd Lt. LeRoy J. Fontaine; 2^nd Lt. Raymond J. Mazanowski; 1^st Lt. Paul J. Diekmann; Tech Sgt. Thomas R. Touchstone; Tech Sgt. Frank E. Osborne
• B-25 #56: 1^st Lt. Clifford T. Schapansky; 2^nd Lt. Dow J. Richter; 2^nd Lt. Frank H. Gibson; Staff Sgt. Eugene E. Banzhof; Staff Sgt. Michael Barnick
• B-25 #57: 2^nd Lt. Herbert F. Hempe; 1^st Lt. Richard C. Battle; 2^nd Lt. Ralph Kamhi; Staff Sgt. Carl S. Penka; Staff Sgt. Gale B. Cehill
• B-25 #61: Captain Joseph L. Skeldon; 2^nd Lt. Robert A. Nice; 1^st Lt. Glee G. Smyth; 2^nd Lt. Clyde H. Wells; Tech Sgt. Joe Edmonson; Staff Sgt. Clair G. Archer; Sgt. Herbert G. Passarine
• B-25 #68: 2^nd Lt. George T. Grottle; 2^nd Lt. Donald G. O’Leary; 2^nd Lt. Robert B. Fischborn; Staff Sgt. Loren Morris; Staff Sgt. Golden U. Gallup
• B-25 #88: 1^st Lt. William A. Brenner; 2^nd Lt. Earle F. Kane; 1^st Lt. Charles H. Dearth; Staff Sgt. Charles J. Wilder; Staff Sgt. Walter J. Schexnayder

ORDNANCE EXPENDED: 84 x 192-pound M-3 fragmentation clusters and 36 x 100-pound demolition bombs

RESULTS: B-25 crews report 90% of bombs falling in target area, but weather prevents damage assessment

JAPANESE UNITS, AIRCRAFT, AND PILOTS: An estimated eight to 15 fighters intercept the American formation, most likely from the 85^th Sentai. 

AIRCRAFT LOSSES: Accurate antiaircraft fire damages one B-25, which returns safely to Kweilin.  P-40 pilots claim to shoot down up to four Japanese fighters, though Japanese records do not record any pilots lost over Canton on this date.

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).