Wednesday, 14 July 1943

123456789101112 2158 hrs

21 Squadron War Diary

2158 hrs Ben Hagen
Seven aircraft took off last night from 2158 hrs at approximately 5 to 10 minutes intervals to raid transport along any roads in area RAFFADALI – CALTANISSETTO – NICOSIA – TERMINI – RAFFADALI. Incendiaries caused huge grass fires and bomb bursts were seen all over the area. No transport could be seen on roads but likely dispersal areas were bombed and pamphlets were distributed over the whole area.“Oprep” No. 339, Sortie Report and Crew List.Major R COULL (Pilot) Lt. HARLE (Observer), 2/Lt. SHAW(A.C.) and Lt. MONSON (Signals) reported today on posting. The American Red Cross served the Squadron with doughnuts and tea this afternoon.‍

Transcriber's Notes

L.T
Local Time.
2/Lt
Second Lieutenant.

Historical Context &

Night Raids on Termini Imerese:

July 13th (00:07): A raid by two Baltimores faced stiff resistance. One aircraft was illuminated by searchlights and forced to take "violent evasive action" out to sea before returning to bomb the town. The "fairly intensive and accurate" flak damaged the aircraft.

July 13th (22:20): A second raid by four aircraft achieved better results, starting "Three large fires" in the harbor. The lack of flak ("No A.A. or searchlights") suggests the earlier raid or other Allied attacks had suppressed the defenses or the defenders were conserving ammunition.

Armed Recce (The "Raffadali Loop"):

Typographical Errors:

AIR 27/268 · The National Archives