20 February 1945

TUESDAY, 20 FEBRUARY 1945

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

AIRBORNE OPERATIONS (IX Troop Carrier Command): HQ 53d Troop Carrier Wing
moves from Greenham Common, England to Voisenon, France.

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 3 missions are flown.
Mission 836: 1,264 bombers and 726 fighters are dispatched to hit the main
station and marshalling yard at Nurnberg, Germany; the target is bombed
visually and using H2X radar; they claim 49-1-21 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 B-17s
and 7 fighters are lost:
1. 360 B-24s dispatched abandon the mission over Belgium due to weather
conditions; one B-24 hits Steig, a target of opportunity; 1 B-24 is damaged
beyond repair; 3 airmen are KIA and 2 WIA. Escorting are 123 of 141 P-51s;
they claim 2-0-0 aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA).
2. 831 of 904 B-17s hit the primary target; targets of opportunity are
Schiltach (16) and other (12); 5 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and
241 damaged; 9 airmen are KIA, 10 WIA and 47 MIA. The escort is 315 of 337
P-51s; they claim 8-0-2 aircraft on the ground; 5 P-51s are lost (pilots
MIA).
3. 194 P-47s and P-51s strafe rail and road targets in the Nurnberg and
Straubing areas; they claim 12-0-1 aircraft in the air and 35-1-20 on the
ground; 7 fighters are lost (pilots MIA).
4. 28 of 29 P-51s fly a scouting mission without loss.
5. 10 P-51s escort photo reconnaissance aircraft over Germany.
Mission 837: 10 of 11 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany
during the night without loss.
Mission 838: During the night of 20/21 Feb, 30 B-24s attack the Neustadt
marshalling yard without loss and 6 of 7 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions.

TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): The IX Engineer Command is relieved
of its assignment to the Ninth AF and assigned to US Strategic Air Forces in
Europe (USSTAF). (After V-E the command will revert to control of the Ninth.)
Weather grounds the 9th Bombardment Division; in Germany, fighters fly armed
reconnaissance E and W of the Rhine River, attack a bridge and defended area,
and support the US VIII, XII, and XX Corps in the Lichtenborn area, W of the
Prum River, and in the Saar-Mosel triangle.