30 March 1945

FRIDAY, 30 MARCH 1945

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

AIRBORNE OPERATIONS (IX Troop Carrier Command): HQ 349th Troop Carrier
Group and the 312th Troop Carrier Squadron arrive at Barkston, England from
the US with C-46s.

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 918: 1,402 bombers and 899 fighters are dispatched to attack
targets connected with U-boat construction or operation; they claim 8-1-12
Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 bombers and 4 fighters are lost:
1. 530 B-17s are sent to hit 2 U-boat yards (64) and an oil depot (169) at
Hamburg; 263 bomb the port area at Hamburg, the secondary target; 1 hits
Bremen, a target of opportunity; bombing is both visual and using H2X radar;
they claim 0-1-3 aircraft; 3 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 252
damaged; 14 airmen are KIA, 10 WIA and 28 MIA. Escorting are 289 of 304
P-51s; they claim 4-0-7 aircraft in the air and 1-0-1 on the ground; 3 P-51s
are lost.
2. 448 B-17s are sent to hit the U-boat yard (318) and rail bridge (109) at
Bremen visually and with H2X; 1 B-17 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 225
damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 6 WIA and 11 MIA. The escort is 268 of 287 P-51s;
they claim 2-0-1 aircraft.
3. 382 B-24s are dispatched to hit the U-boat yard (273) and Bauhaben port
area (85) at Wilhelmshafen both visually and with H2X; 1 B-24 is lost and 56
damaged; 8 airmen are KIA and 1 WIA. 105 P-47s and P-51s escort.
4. 32 of 36 B-17s fly a DISNEY mission to the U-boat yard at Farge; 14
B-17s are damaged.
5. 6 B-17s fly screening missions.
6. 153 of 159 P-51s fly a freelance mission for the bombers; they claim
1-0-0 aircraft.
7. 11 P-51s escort 5 F-5s on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany.
8. 26 of 31 P-51s fly scouting missions.
Mission 919: During the night, 13 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands
and Germany; 19 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions to Norway; 1 B-24 is lost and
1 crashes in the Orkney Islands.

TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 337 A-20s, A-26s and
B-26s attack the Bad Oeynhausen tank factory, the Munden ordnance depot, the
Ebenhausen oil depot, 2 town areas and 6 targets of opportunity, and drop
leaflets; fighters escort the bombers, fly patrols and armed reconnaissance,
and support ground forces; fighter support is provided for the US 3d and 7th
Armored Divisions near Paderborn and at the Edersee dam on the Eder River,
the XII Corps N of Frankfurt/Main, the XX Corps in the Hersfeld and Hanau
areas, and the XVI Corps in the Marl-Polsum area. Units moving: HQ 322d
Bombardment Group (Medium) and the 449th and 452d Bombardment Squadrons
(Medium) from Tille Airfield, Beauvais, France to Le Culot, Belgium with
B-26s; HQ 404th Fighter Group and the 506th Fighter Squadron from St Trond,
Belgium to Keltz, Germany with P-47s; the 153d Liaison Squadron, IX
Tactical Air Command (attached to Twelfth Army Group), from Euskirchen to
Bad Godesberg, Germany; the 428th, 429th and 430th Fighter Squadrons,
474th Fighter Group, from Florennes, Belgium to Strassfeld, Germany with
P-38s.