Beauvoir, Edward King's 20th operation of his tour

Beauvoir, Edward King's 20th operation of his tour

Four items, Edward's description of the operation, he refers to the target as a P plane base, the operation report refers to it as a storage site, his navigation plot, a map of the area close to the target showing their track and the target. Part of an official report of the operation giving the number and type of aircraft involved and a detailed assessment of the operation which despite the cloud was effective. Attached to this there is a press clipping describing the day's air activities.

1944-07-02

Two typed documents, a navigation plot, a map

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SKingEJ182986v10089, SKingEJ182986v10090, SKingEJ182986v10091, SKingEJ182986v10092

[underlined] BEAUVOIR [/underlined]
[underlined] P – Plane Base [/underlined] [underlined] 2nd July 1944 [/underlined]

Airborne 1250
Landed 1640

Formation daylight raid. Full cloud cover until past English coast then breaking to 5/10. Target obscured by c[missing letters] [deleted] cloud [/deleted] cloud so orbited until clear patch seen. Target wiped out. Saw St. Valery on way out – also Dieppe in the distance. Little opposition with only light flak bursting some 6000 feet below us.

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[map]
[inserted] BEAUVOIR. [/inserted]

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[map]

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R.A.F. BOMB BY DAY IN ANOTHER '1,000' RAID

"U.S. Heavies Hit Hanover"

From FRANK STARR

'Evening News' War Reporter at Supreme Headquarters

R.A.F. Bomber Command, which in the night again sent out more than 1,000 Lancasters and Halifaxes to attack railway communications and military targets in Normandy and other parts of France and Germany, made air history.

For the first time in any theatre of war, part of the huge force of night bombers bombed in daylight with fighter escort. Nearly the whole of the great force was airborne over England while the sun was setting, and most crossed the Channel coast when more than an hour remained before darkness.

It was one formation of these night bombers which attacked their targets before dark, with R.A.F. day fighters escorting and covering them.

(III) BEAUVOIR SUPPLY SITE WAS ATTACKED BY 118/119 LANCASTERS OF 3 GROUP 2/2 LANCASTERS AND 4/5 MOSQUITES [sic] OF 8(PF) GROUP.
CLOUD WAS VARIABLE AND DRIFTING, OCCASIONAL CLEAR PATCHES OCCURRING OVER THE TARGET. THE M/B [Master Bomber] AT FIRST INSTRUCTED THE MAIN FORCE TO ORBIT AND LATER TO BOMB BY MEANS OF NAVIGATIONAL AIDS, BUT SHORTLY AFTERWARDS [letter deleted] THE M/B SAW THE A/P [Aiming Point] AND RELEASED HIS YELLOW T I' S [Target Indicators] AND CREWS WERE ABLE TO BOMB THEM. BOMBING WAS FAIRLY CONCENTRATED, BUT CLOUD CONDITIONS PREVENTED AN ACCURATE ASSESSMENT. FLAK WAS NEGLIGIBLE AND NO FIGHTERS SEEN.
STRIKE PHOTOS SHOW BOMB BURSTS CLOSE TO AND AROUND THE TARGET AREA BUT THERE IS TOO MUCH CLOUD TO ASSESS HOW HEAVILY THE TARGET HAS BEEN HIT.


BEAUVOIR.
THE WHOLE TARGET AREA IS SATURATED WITH CRATERS. THE FOLLOWING NUMBERS ARE REFERENCES TO THE TARGET INTERPRETATION:-

Z2. Z3. Z4. DESTROYED
Z1 Z2. DAMAGED
Y. SMALLER OF THE TWO BUILDINGS IS DEMOLISHED AND HALF OF THE LARGER BUILDING IS DEMOLISHED
W DAMAGED BY DIRECT HIT AND BY NEAR MISSES.
V1. PARTLY DEMOLISHED AND REMAINDER SEVERELY DAMAGED.
V2. FURTHER DAMAGE BY NEAR MISSES.
U LARGELY OBLITERATED.