30 Sep 1944, WW2 Air Raids over Hong Kong & South China

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: Eleven B-25 crews are briefed for the mission, but poor weather conditions over the target forces the cancellation of the mission.  However, five aircraft that are already airborne proceed to the target zone.  Two B-25s hit Tien Ho airbase and one B-25 hits White Cloud airbase.  One B-25 bombs the town of Wuchow, the alternate target for the mission.  Damage to targets is unknown.  Due to the weather, one B-25 fails to locate any target and returns its bombs to base.

TIME OVER TARGET: ~6:35 to 8:22 p.m.

AMERICAN UNITS AND AIRCRAFT: Five B-25s from the 11^th Bomb Squadron (341^st Medium Bomb Group)

AMERICAN PILOTS AND AIRCREW:

• B-25J #43-27807: Captain Benning M. Perdew; 2^nd Lt. Floyd H. Woosley; Flight Officer Lawrence J. Corsa; Staff Sgt. Paul A. LaFrancois; Staff Sgt. Joseph J. Reilly; Staff Sgt. William C. Whaley
• B-25J #43-4091: 1^st Lt. Elmer H. Haman; 2^nd Lt. Raymond S. Horey; 1^st Lt. Herbert M. Edwards; Staff Sgt. Edward W. Dembinski; Staff Sgt. Richard A. Smart; Sgt. Arvid J. Johnson
• B-25D #43-3614: 2^nd Lt. Clarence B. Cole; 2^nd Lt. Lawrence F. Uebel; 2^nd Lt. Charles G. Fredericks; Corporal Luther Barnett; Corporal Charles A. Lessler; Corporal Jerome S. Burson
• B-25H #43-4989: 1^st Lt. Kenneth N. Martindale; 2^nd Lt. Philip J. Holman; Staff Sgt. Lester W. Helrigle; Staff Sgt. Bazil E. Murray; Sgt. Gene O. Gorup
• B-25J #43-3949: 1^st Lt. Marcus L. Shoat; 2^nd Lt. Boyd A. Shumway; 2^nd Lt. Frederick E. Cather; Sgt. John I. Anderson; Staff Sgt. Thomas S. Nugent; Sgt. Henry E. Krant

ORDNANCE EXPENDED: 60 x 100-pound fragmentation bombs

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).