OBJECTIVE: Reconnaissance over Canton and Hong Kong
TIME OVER TARGET: ~9:00 a.m.
AMERICAN UNITS AND AIRCRAFT: One P-43A Lancer on loan to the 23rd Fighter Group (China Air Task Force) from the Chinese Air Force
AMERICAN PILOTS AND AIRCREW: Major Bruce K. Holloway
ORDNANCE EXPENDED: None
RESULTS: Pilot reports no apparent damage from strikes on October 25 and 26, 1942, and this assessment is confirmed by aerial photographs of Kowloon taken during the mission.
OBJECTIVE: Tien Ho airfield at Canton is the primary target, but when ground fog obscures the airbase, the bombers hit gasoline storage facilities and godowns instead.
TIME OVER TARGET: ~4:15 a.m.
AMERICAN SQUADRONS AND AIRCRAFT: Three B-25s from 11th Bomb Squadron (341st Medium Bomb Group, China Air Task Force)
TIME OVER TARGET: ~Midnight (American military documents, BAAG reports, and eyewitness accounts disagree on the time of the raid, which is said to occur somewhere between 23:00 on Oct. 25 and 01:30 on Oct. 26.)
ORDNANCE EXPENDED: 500-pound bombs and 17-kg fragmentation bombs
RESULTS: No damage to power station, despite American claims to the contrary. Some civilian casualties in residential areas near the plant. <Read more ...>
OBJECTIVE: Bomb targets in Kowloon and draw Japanese fighter pilots into a dogfight on terms favorable to American fighter pilots. This is the first American air strike on Hong Kong during the Second World War.
AMERICAN UNITS AND AIRCRAFT: Five B-25C from 11th Bomb Squadron (341st Medium Bomb Group) escorted by 7 P-40Es from 23rd Fighter Group. All aircraft are from the China Air Task Force.
AMERICAN PILOTS AND AIRCREW: Major Dalene E. Bailey (B-25s); Captain Charles Sawyer; 1st Lt. Patrick H. Daniels; 1st Lt. Charles H. Dubois; 1st Lt. Harold K. Stuart (P-40s) <Read more ...>
