14 Sep 1943, WW2 Air Raids over Hong Kong & South China

OBJECTIVE: Bomb Kowloon docks and godowns

TIME OVER TARGET: Due to heavy cloud cover, the bombers do not reach the target

AMERICAN UNITS AND AIRCRAFT: Nine B-25s from the 11^th Bomb Squadron (341^st Medium Bomb Group) and an unspecified number of escorting fighters, probably from the 74^th and/or 449^th Fighter Squadron (23^rd Fighter Group).  All aircraft are from the 14^th Air Force.

AMERICAN PILOTS AND AIRCREW: Lt. Goode; 2^nd Lt. Edward J. Pawlowski; Staff Sgt. Robert C. Appleby; Sgt. Golden U. Gallup; Tech Sgt. George W. Gouldthrite; Staff Sgt. J.J. O’Connel

ORDNANCE EXPENDED: No bombs are dropped.

RESULTS: None

JAPANESE UNITS, AIRCRAFT, AND PILOTS: Up to ten enemy fighters intercept the B-25s, probably from the 25^th, 33^rd, or 85^th Sentai.  

AIRCRAFT LOSSES: B-25 gunners claim to shoot down up to five enemy fighters, though Japanese records do no indicate any pilots were lost over the Pearl River delta on this date.  The escorting American fighters fail to rendezvous with the B-25s due to the poor weather and do not engage the Japanese fighters.

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).