25 Sep 1944, WW2 Air Raids over Hong Kong & South China
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OBJECTIVE: Fly a series of staggered single-aircraft night raids to harass airbases at Canton and prevent JAAF pilots from flying night bombing missions against American airbases in China.
RESULTS: Captain Perdew is unable to locate White Cloud airbase due to cloud cover, but drops propaganda leaflets over Canton. He then bombs the town of Wuchow, his designated alternate target. Lt. Sloat is assigned to hit White Cloud airbase, but he blows a landing-gear tire and is unable to take off for the mission.
TIME OVER TARGET: ~7:00 p.m.
AMERICAN UNITS AND AIRCRAFT: Two B-25s from the 11th Bomb Squadron (341st Medium Bomb Group)
AMERICAN PILOTS AND AIRCREW: Captain Perdew; Lt. Sloat
ORDNANCE EXPENDED: 1,500 propaganda leaflets are dropped on Canton and 8 x 100-kilogram bombs are dropped on Wuchow.
JAPANESE UNITS, AIRCRAFT, AND PILOTS: None
AIRCRAFT LOSSES: None
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).
