06 Apr 1944, WW2 Air Raids over Hong Kong & South China
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OBJECTIVE: Harass the Canton airfields with a series of one-plane night raids staggered over a four-hour period
RESULTS: Due to poor weather conditions only three of eight B-25s reach the target and release their bombs; two B-25s run out of fuel and crash.
TIME OVER TARGET: From 8:25 p.m. on April 6 to 12:37 a.m. on April 7
AMERICAN UNITS AND AIRCRAFT: Eight B-25s from the 11th Bomb Squadron (341st Medium Bomb Group)
AMERICAN PILOTS AND AIRCREW: Unknown
ORDNANCE EXPENDED: 24 x parachute fragmentation bomb clusters; 6 x 500-pound bombs
JAPANESE UNITS, AIRCRAFT, AND PILOTS: None
AIRCRAFT LOSSES: Two B-25s go down on the return flight when their crews are unable to find landing fields and run out of fuel over friendly territory. All crewmen successfully bail out and eventually return to duty.
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).
