|
||
The Mighty Eighth -Wednesday, 28 February, 1945 |
| WEDNESDAY, 28 FEBRUARY 1945 EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO) AIRBORNE OPERATIONS (IX Troop Carrier Command): Units moving from England to France: HQ 313th Troop Carrier Group from Folkingham to Achiet; HQ 314th Troop Carrier Group and the 32d and 61st Troop Carrier Squadrons from Saltby to Poix with C-47s. STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 3 missions are flown. Mission 854: 1,104 bombers and 737 fighters are dispatched to make PFF attacks on rail targets in Germany; they calim 18-0-11 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-17 and 5 P-51s are lost: 1. 378 B-17s are sent to hit marshalling yards at Soest (143), Hagen (151) and Schwerte (74) using Gee-H; 1 other hits a target of opportunity; 1 B-17s is lost; 3 airmen are MIA. 106 of 112 P-51s escort without loss. 2. 346 B-24s are dispatched to hit the Arnsberg (95) and Bielefeld (81) viaducts, the Siegen marshalling yard (77) and the Henschel tank plant at Meschede (79); 1 other hits the Neustadt road junction, a target of opportunity; all attacks are made using Gee-H; no casualties. Escorting are 117 of 123 P-51s; 1 is lost (pilot MIA). 3. 364 of 380 B-17s hit the marshalling yard at Kassel, the secondary target; 6 others hit 6 targets of opportunity; the attacks are made using H2X radar; no casualties. The escort is 113 of 118 P-51s; they claim 0-0-1 aircraft in the air and 10-0-4 on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 4. 308 of 318 P-51s fly a strafing run in the Wurzburg-Munich area; they calim 8-0-6 aircraft on the ground; 3 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 5. 18 of 20 P-47s fly a figher-bomber mission against Ablar, Offenbach and Werdorf marshalling yards and factory buildings without loss. 6. 16 P-51s escort 4 F-5s and 1 Spitfire on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany. Mission 855: 11 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany during the night without loss. 1 Mosquito flies a SKYWAVE mission over Germany. (SKYWAVE is a special navigational mission to calibrate LORAN equipment.) Mission 856: 22 of 24 B-24s bomb the Freiburg rail depot during the night using PFF methods; no losses. The 36th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 1st Air Division [attached to 482d Bombardment Group (Heavy)], moves from Cheddington to Alconbury, England with B-24s (the 36th is engaged in radio countermeasures operations). TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 340+ A-20s, B-26s and A-26s bomb rail bridges at Mayen, Niederscheld, and Colbe, the Unna ordnance depot, Kamp road junction, Siegen and Sankt Wendel marshalling yards, the town of Rheinburg, and targets of opportunity; fighters escort the bombers, fly sweeps, patrols and armed reconnaissance, attack special targets, and support the US 3d Armored Division at the Paffendorf bridgehead, US Ninth Army elements near Monchen-Gladbach and Neuss [the 2d Armored Division reaches a point within 6 miles (9.7 km) of the Rhine River], and the VIII, XII, and XX Corps between the Prum and Kyll Rivers and near Trier. |