30 Sep 1944, WW2 Air Raids over Hong Kong & South China
Primary tabs
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: Nine B-25 crews are briefed for the mission, but poor weather conditions over the target forces the cancellation of the mission. However, two aircraft that are already airborne proceed with the mission and bomb the town of Wuchow, the alternate target for the mission, when they are unable to locate the Canton airbases. Damage is unknown.
TIME OVER TARGET: ~5:55 to 6:45 p.m.
AMERICAN UNITS AND AIRCRAFT: Two B-25s from the 491st Bomb Squadron (341st Medium Bomb Group)
AMERICAN PILOTS AND AIRCREW:
- B-25H #43-4159: 1st Lt. T. Biswell; 2nd Lt. R.M. Howard; Staff Sgt. W.J. Copeland; Tech Sgt. W.F. Irwin; Staff Sgt. M. Bogel
- B-25H #43-4393: 2nd Lt. R.L. Henderson; 1st Lt. R.K. Shaw; Staff Sgt. E.F. Sarlund; Staff Sgt. A. Nemeth; Staff Sgt. L.J. Flanagan
ORDNANCE EXPENDED: 40 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).
