03 Nov 1943, WW2 Air Raids over Hong Kong & South China

OBJECTIVE: Bomb Kowloon docks

TIME OVER TARGET: ~12:45 p.m.

AMERICAN UNITS AND AIRCRAFT:

• Twenty-one B-24s from the 373^rd, 374^th, 375^th and 425^th Bomb Squadrons (308^th Heavy Bomb Group)
• Seventeen P-40s from the 74^th Fighter Squadron (23^rd Fighter Group)
• Nine to twelve P-40s from the 75^th Fighter Squadron (23^rd Fighter Group)
• Eight P-38s from the 449^th Fighter Squadron (23^rd Fighter Group)

AMERICAN PILOTS AND AIRCREW:

• 74^th Fighter Squadron: Col. Norval C. Bonawitz; Captain Bell; Lt. Garrett; Lt. Heelen; Lt. Duesler; Lt. Meyer; Lt. Jones; Lt. Strantz; Lt. Gibeault; Lt. Lundy; 2^nd Lt. Altheus B. Jarmon; Lt. Thomas P. Bennett; Lt. Duffy; Lt. Robert M. Cage; 1^st Lt. Harlyn Vidovich; Lt. Lee; Lt. Smith
• 75^th Fighter Squadron: Captain Grosvenor; Captain Pryor; Lt. Long; Lt. Balderson; Lt. Anning; Lt. Vurgaropulos; Lt. Casey; Lt. Howard; Lt. Brown; Lt. Bennett
• B-24 #251: 1^st Lt. Herbert W. Oglesby; 1^st Lt. John M. White; 1^st Lt. Irwin Zaetz; 1^st Lt. Edward W. Smith; Tech Sgt. Leroy A Harned; Staff Sgt. Waino M. Williams; Staff Sgt. George J. McKorkell; Tech Sgt. Lawrence Bouchard; Sgt. Keene; Sgt. R.C. Schuman
• B-24 gunners: Staff Sgt. John A. Caughlin; Staff St. Dallas C. Thomas; Sgt. Earl T. Smith; Staff Sgt. James M. Shook; Staff Sgt. Benjamin L. Ross; Tech Sgt. Burman [possibly Richard Berman]; Staff Sgt. Spodafara [possibly Tony Spadafora]

ORDNANCE EXPENDED: No bombs are dropped due to overcast conditions at Hong Kong

RESULTS: None

JAPANESE UNITS, AIRCRAFT, AND PILOTS: American pilots report they are attacked by up to 38 enemy fighters, which is almost certainly an overestimation.  Intercepting Japanese fighters likely belong to the 85^th Sentai.

AIRCRAFT LOSSES:

• B-24 #251 is struck by antiaircraft fire over Canton and then shot up by enemy fighters, forcing the crew to bail out.  All crewmembers eventually return to their unit.
• Two P-40s are damaged.
• B-24 gunners claim to shoot down up to five enemy fighters and P-40 pilots claim three more.  However, Japanese records suggest that only 1^st Lt. Yoshiji Shiki of the 85^th Sentai is 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.

• Japanese Army Fighter Aces, 1931-45, by Ikuhiko Hata, Yasuho Izawa, and Christopher Shores

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).