16 April 1945

MONDAY, 16 APRIL 1945

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 3 missions are flown.
Mission 954: In the afternoon, 1,252 bombers and 913 fighters are
dispatched to attack rail targets in Germany; they claim 727-0-373 Luftwaffe
aircraft; 1 B-24 and 31 fighters are lost.
1. 273 of 306 B-24s bomb the marshalling yard at Landshut; 1 B-24 is lost,
2 damaged beyond repair and 8 damaged; 7 airmen are MIA. Escorting are 299
P-47s and P-51s; they claim 228-0-109 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-47 and 16
P-51s are lost (pilots MIA).
2. 454 B-17s are sent to hit the marshallling yard (148), East rail bridge
(72) and West rail bridge (74) at Regensburg, the Platting marshalling yard
(77) and rail bridge at Straubing (76); 2 B-17s are damaged. The escort is
240 of 262 P-51s; they claim 2-0-0 aircraft in the air and 86-0-66 on the
ground; 3 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA).
3. 286 of 298 P-51s fly a freelance mission in support of the bombers
attacking 40+ landing grounds in Germany and Czechoslovakia; they claim 1-0-1
aircraft in the air and 410-0-198 on the ground; 9 P-51s are lost (pilots
MIA).
4. 19 of 22 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
5. 16 P-51s escort 10 F-5s on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany; 2
P-51s are lost (pilots MIA).
Mission 955: During the morning, 485 of 489 B-17s bomb the tank ditch
defense line at Pointe de Grave on the S side of the Gironde estuary in the
Bordeaux area in support of the ground assault in that area; 14 B-17s are
damaged.
Mission 956: During the night, 11 of 12 B-24s drop leaflets in France, the
Netherlands and Germany.

TACTICAL OPERATIONS
First Tactical Air Force (Provisional): The 526th Fighter Squadron, 86th
Fighter Group, moves from Tantonville, France to Braunschardt, Germany with
P-47s.
Ninth Air Force: In Germany, about 450 A-20s, A-26s and B-26s bomb the
Zerbst communications center, Gunzenhausen marshalling yard, Kempten ordnance
depot, and Wittenberg marshalling yard and gun positions; the IX Tactical Air
Command's fighters claim 25 air victories during the day as they escort the
bombers, fly patrols, area cover, and armed reconnaissance, attack airfields
and other targets, and support the US 3rd Armored Division SW of Dessau, the
9th Armored Division in the Bennewitz-Colditz area along the Mulde River, the
XX Corps which remains at the Zwickauer Mulde River bridgehead NE of
Chemnitz, the VIII Corps crossing the Weisse Elster River between Gera and
Plauen, the 2d Armored Division on the Elbe River near Magdeburg, the XIX
Corps E of Barby, and the V Corps near Leipzig; the 354th Fighter Group (the
pioneer P-51 group of the Ninth AF) claims its 900th air victory. Unit moves:
HQ 391st Bombardment Group (Medium) and 572d Bombardment Squadron (Medium)
from Amy Airfield, Roye, France to Assche, Belgium with B-26s; 33d
Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group,
from Venlo, the Netherlands to Gutersloh, Germany with F-5s; the 160th and
161st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadrons, 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group,
from Venlo, the Netherlands to Gutersloh, Germany with F-6s; the 397th
Fighter Squadron, 368th Fighter Group, form Metz, France to Frankfurt-am-
Main, Germany with P-47s.