22 February 1945THURSDAY, 22 FEBRUARY 1945
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force):
Mission 841: 1,428 bombers and 862
fighters commence Operation CLARION, a joint RAF, Eighth, Ninth
and Fifteenth
AF operation with the objective of paralyzing the already
decimated German
rail and road system; most attacks were made visually; bombing
was conducted
from an optimum 10,000 feet (3,048 m) to achieve accuracy at
target without
flak defenses; they claim 28-2-43 Luftwaffe aircraft; 7 bombers
and 13
fighters are lost:
1. 522 B-17s are sent to hit marshalling yards at Bamberg (64),
Zwickau (2)
and Kitzingen (1); targets of opportunity are Ansbach (143),
Donaueschingen
(24), Reutlingen (25), Ulm (77), Freiburg (21), Hafingen (10),
the
marshalling yards at Aalen (24), Neustadt (26), Singen (8),
Schwenningen
(22), and Villgen (11) and other (42); some attacks are made
with H2X radar;
they claim 0-0-1 aircraft; 2 B-17s are lost and 29 damaged; 2
airmen are WIA
and 19 MIA. Escorting are 163 of 168 P-51s; 3 are lost (pilots
MIA).
2. 452 B-24s are dispatched to hit marshalling yards at
Halberstadt (51),
Sangerhausen (11), Nordhausen (30), Vienenburg (23), Peine (52),
Hildesheim
(55), Kreiensen (48), and Northeim (48); targets of opportunity
are
Nordhausen (11), Ottbergen (10), the rail and highway bridge at
Lindern (1)
and marshalling yards at Wallhausen (19), Oker (8), Eschwege
(30), Gottingen
(29) and Celle (8) and other (1); 4 B-24s are lost and 68
damaged; 2 airmen
are WIA and 38 MIA. 246 P-47s and P-51s escort; they claim
19-0-16 aircraft
on the ground; 4 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA).
3. 454 B-17s are sent to hit Wittenburg (72), Stendal (73),
Salzwedel (59),
Uelzen (73), Wittstock (11), Luneburg (39), and Ludwigslust
(48); targets of
opportunity are Grabow (13), Kobbelitz (24), Dannenberg (12) and
Klotze (13).
The escort is 268 of 280 P-51s; they claim 4-2-18 aircraft in
the air and
3-0-5 on the ground; 5 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA).
4. 99 of 103 P-51s fly a freelance mission in support of the
bombers; they
claim 2-0-0 aircraft in the air; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA).
5. 28 of 32 P-51s fly a scouting mission; they claim 2-0-3
aircraft on the
ground.
6. 13 P-51s escort 10 F-5s and 5 Spitfires on photo
reconnaissance missions
over Germany.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
First Tactical Air Force (Provisional): HQ 27th Fighter Group
moves from
Tarquinia, Italy to St Dizier, France.
Ninth Air Force: In Operation CLARION, 450+ A-20s, A-26s, and
B-26s of
the 9th Bombardment Division bomb SW German targets including 46
rail
bridges, 12 marshalling yards, 11 stations, plus junctions,
roundhouses, a
viaduct, a crossing, a workshop; this marks the first low-level
operations by
B-26s since May 43; 1,000+ fighters of the IX, XIX, and XXIX
Tactical Air
Commands escort the bombers, attack several assigned ground
targets, fly
armed reconnaissance, and cooperate with the US VIII, XII, and
XX Corps along
the Prum River and in the Saar-Mosel Triangle.
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