16 Oct 1944, WW2 Air Raids over Hong Kong & South China
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OBJECTIVE: Reconnaissance flight over Canton and Hong Kong
RESULTS: Pre-strike photos are taken of Victoria Harbor. Pilot reports that numerous ships are in port. No photos are taken of the Canton airbases, which are obscured by cloud.
TIME OVER TARGET: ~9:45 to 9:55 a.m. over Hong Kong
AMERICAN UNITS AND AIRCRAFT: One F-5B (#388) from Flight B, 21st Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron
AMERICAN PILOTS AND AIRCREW: Lt. Neely
ORDNANCE EXPENDED: None
JAPANESE UNITS, AIRCRAFT, AND PILOTS: One aircraft of unknown type/unit attempts without success to intercept Lt. Neely’s aircraft.
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).
