Narrative - Official Air Force Mission Description
| Mission 803: 912 bombers and 523 fighters are dispatched to hit industrial and rail targets in C Germany using PFF methods with some visual bombing; they claim 8-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 8 bombers are lost:
1. 379 B-17s are sent to hit the marshalling yard (257) and oil plant (66) at Aschaffenburg; targets of opportunity are the Pforzheim marshalling yard (24) and military vehicle plant at Mannheim (3); Gee-H and H2X are used; 2 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 4 damaged; 18 airmen are KIA and 2 MIA. Escorting are 112 of 139 P-51s.
2. 382 B-17s are dispatched to hit the marshalling yard (254), Lanz military vehicle factory (21) and highway and rail bridges (16) at Mannheim; targets of opportunity are the Pforzheim marshalling yard (16), Speyer (4) and other (3); bombing is by Micro H and H2X; 6 B-17s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 53 damaged; 3 airmen are KIA, 12 WIA and 55 MIA. The escort is 138 of 150 P-51s; they claim 2-0-0 aircraft on the ground.
3. 152 B-24s are sent to hit the marshalling yard at Heilbronn (68) using H2X; targets of opportunity bombed visually are the marshalling yard at Pforzheim (11), the communications centers at Arnbach (14) and Mannheim (1) and Reutlingen (1); 4 B-24s are damaged beyond repair and 2 damaged; 3 airmen are WIA. Escort is provided by 120 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 6-0-1 aircraft on the ground.
4. 26 of 26 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
5. 6 of 7 P-51s fly an armed photographic mission over Politz.
6. 22 of 23 P-51s escort 4 F-5s on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany.
Mission 804: 2 B-17s and 9 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands, France and Germany during the night without loss. | |
| Source: THE ARMY AIR FORCES IN WORLD WAR II: COMBAT CHRONOLOGY, 1941-1945 by Carter / Mueller, the Office of Air Force History, |
Mission Reports
| 303BG Mission Report - Target: Marshalling Yard at Aschaffenburg, Germany. Crews Dispatched: 13 (358BS - 3, 359th - 3, 360th - 3, 427th - 4). Crews Lost: Lt. Duffield, 9 KIA, 1 POW; Lt. Tasker, 8 KIA, 1 POW Length of Mission: 7 hours, 46 minutes. Bomb Load: 10 x 500 lb H.E. M43 & 8 x 500 M17 Incendiaries. Bombing Altitude: 21,300 ft. Ammo Fired: 100 rounds. A single Squadron of thirteen Fortresses was dispatched to attack a locomotive shed at Aschaffenburg, Germany. The secondary target was the marshalling yard itself. B-17G #42-97546 Idaliza, 360BS (Lt. Goodberlet 358BS) returned early with engine problems. Ten aircraft dropped 90 500-lb. H.E. M43, 18 500-lb. M17 incendiary bombs and nine units of T29 leaflets on the secondary target from 21,300 feet. The PFF bombing results were unobserved. There was no enemy opposition, no flak, no battle damage and good 1st AD support by 112 P-52s. What started out as a "milk run" mission turned deadly when two aircraft collided at 48E27'N- 80E20'E, the turning point before reaching the IP. The left wing of Squadron lead aircraft #44-8137 (No Name), 359BS, piloted by 1Lt. Richard B. Duffield, caught the right wing of #42-97058, Scorchy II, 359BS, piloted by 2Lt. Richard E. Tasker, the lead aircraft of the 2nd flight. The wing of #44-8137 came off and the aircraft rolled over on its back and went down. Scorchy II also lost its wing and went down. No parachutes were spotted by other 303rd BG(H) crews, although some crews of the nearby 39BS reported seeing some parachutes and bodies falling out. Sgt. David Garza, in #44-6316, 358BS, observed the disabled aircraft as it fell to the ground. The aircraft crashed near Rottweil, Germany. 1Lt. Jack W. Weaver, Deputy Leader, took over the lead in #44-8676 (No Name), 427BS with a 360BS, crew after the collision of the lead aircraft. More info on this mission at the 303BG website | source: 303rd Bomb Group web page http://www.303rdbg.com/ | | 306BG Mission Report | source: 306th Bombardment Group website www.306bg.org/ | | 351BG Mission Report - 34 aircraft were sent on this mission. | source: 351st Bomb Group web page http://www.351st.org/ken.harbour | | 384BG Mission Report - 384th BG Mission Number 258. Primary Target: Aschaffenburg, Germany 14 aircraft assigned to this mission: Completed Mission - 10. Scrubbed - 3. Returned To Base - 1 | source: 384th Bomb Group web page http://384thBombGroup.com/ | | 388BG Mission Report - The 8th Air Force sent its heavy bombers out to attack German Communictions supplying the forces opposing the American 3rd and 7th Armys. Over 900 bombers attacked targets in the Rhine River area. The 388th led the 3rd Air Division to the marshalling yards in Mannheim. The 1st Division went to Aschaffenburg while the 2nd Division went to Heilbronn. 30 a/c plus 4 PFF a/c took-off between 0745 and 0848 hours. Formations were effected and the briefed route to the target was followed. Weather was 10/10th so the primary was attacked using Micro-H technique. Bombing was in Group formation with bombs away at 1158 hours from 27,000 feet. Flack was moderate from the IP to the target with 16 of our a/c receiving battle damage. One a/c failed to attack for personnel reasons. The remaining a/c returned to base by 1538 hours. | source: 388th Bomb Group web page http://www.388bg.info | | 392nd Bomb Group Mission Report | source: 392nd Bomb Group web page http://www.b24.net/missions/ | | 398th Bomb Group Mission report | source: 398th Bomb Group web page http://www.398th.org/ | | 401BG / 613BS Mission Report - Another PFF mission was run to a marshalling yard at Aschaffenburg on January 21st. No observations of results was possible due to 10/10ths weather over the target. Flak and air opposition was nil and all the aircraft returned safely to base. Crews from the 613th participating were: 43-38791 Kelso, 43-37706 Hart, 44-6113 Scheller, 43-38862 Carey, 42-31591 May, 43-38458 Donaldson, 42-102947 Steele, 42-31072 Curran, 44-6588 Nielson. | source: 613th Bombardment Squadron History | | 401BG / 614BS Mission Report - The bad weather held up operations for a day or so and then on 21st January the 401st were assigned the tank park at Aschaffenburg as the primary target. And, as usual, because of the 10/10th's cloud cover, the Group bombed the secondary target, the marshalling yards in the same town, by PFF. 36 aircraft from the Group made up the 94th CBW "C" Group with Major McCree as the Air Commander. Again there was no sign of the Luftwaffe or flak. Crews: 44-8371 Brown, 42-97780 Seder, 43-38677 Cole, 42-97602 Mays, 42-38646 Hartsock, 42-38330 White, 42-97322 St. Aubyn, 42-107151 Morton, 44-6503 King, 44-6464 Richardson. | source: 614th Bombardment Squadron History www.401bg.org | | 401BG / 615BS Mission Report - The bad weather held up operations for three days and on the 21st January the Group was assigned a tank park at Aschaffenburg as the primary target with the marshalling yards in the same town if the weather demanded PFF bombing. It didl The briefing for the mission commenced at 0400 hrs and was attended by 39 crews, three of them spares. Take-off must have been very difficult because with the first aircraft away by 0733 hrs it was another one hour and twenty minutes before the last one was airborne. The 401st furnished the 94th "C" Group with Major D.G. McCree as the Air Commander. Lt. H.E. Haskett and Lt. J.J. Brown were the other leaders. The target was 10/10th's undercast necessitating PFF bombing and it was carried out in Group formation. Nothing could be seen through the cloud cover so no observations were made. No enemy fighters and no flak was again the story for this mission and was obviously one to put into the "Milk Run" category. The 615th put up the following ten crews: 43-38077 Haskett, 43-38758 Gerber, 42-97664 Maire, 42-31983 Jordan, 42-97869 Djernes, 44-6146 Deen, 43-38425 Jones, 43-38810 AR Grimm, 43-38125 Wolf, 42-31730 Smith. | source: 615th Bombardment Squadron History www.401bg.org | | 44BG Mission Report - The 44th dispatched only eleven aircraft in a limited operation, 3 A/C from the 67th, to form one squadron flying the high right position in the 14th Combat Wing "B" group, on a mission to the Heilbronn M/Y. On the bomb run, the H2X equipment in the lead aircraft went out and the deputy lead aircraft assumed the lead and bombed the Pforzheim M/Y, visually, with excellent result. The formation encountered neither flak nor enemy fighters and fighter support was excellent. Several aircraft left the formation to land in France to refuel. Also, one 68th aircraft, #42-50725 M, and crew are MIA, but the crew returned on the 29th. Their #4 engine had run away and the pilot could not feather it. They ran very low on fuel, with #1 and #2 engines running dry. The electrical system was out, and the aircraft started icing up, so the pilot ordered his crew to bail out. One of the gunners was injured and is hospitalized on the continent. It was 67th's Captain Holmer who flew as deputy lead until the lead aircraft was forced to drop out, at which time Capt. Holmer assumed the lead and bombed from that position. In addition to the operational mission, the 67th had ten other planes participate in local flying. Lt. Kyle and crew assigned and joined the 67th from the 70th RD. | source: 44th Bomb Group web page http://www.8thairforce.com/44thbg | 446th Bomb Group Mission Report
Heilbronn High clouds made it impossible to form and the mission was scrubbed. | source: 446th Bomb Group www.446bg.com | | 457th Bomb Group Mission Link | source: 457 Bomb Group http://www.457thbombgroup.org | | 486th Bomb Group Flimsy report | source: 486th Bomb Group web page http://www.486th.org/ | | 91st BG / 322nd BS Mission Report - Aschaffenburg. Capt. Newquist led the high squadron furnished by the 322nd. The Marshalling yards at Aschaffenburg were bombed by PFF methods with unobserved results in group formation with what are believed to be good results. No battle damage. Lt. Fuller in A/C #088 was unable to make the group formation and flew with the 305th Group bombing the same target.
| source: 322rd Bomb Squadron / 91BG Mission Report http://www.91stbombgroup.com/ | | 91BG / 401BS Mission Report - On the 21st of January we dispatched 10 A/C and 13 crews to attack a factory making Royal Tiger Tanks, 3 miles SW of Ashaffenburg. The secondary target was the R. R. Marshalling Yards in Ashaffenburg, The secondary target was attacked by means of instruments with unobserved results. | source: 91st BG / 401st BS Mission Report http://www.91stbombgroup.com/ |
Non-Combat Accident Reports
Aircraft: B-17G (#42-102431).
Organization: 549BS / 385BG of Great Ashfield, Suffolk.
Pilot: Jacobson, Alf M.
Notes: bail out.
Location: Pottswick Hall England.
Damage (0-5 increasing damage): 4
source: Aviation Archaeology http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/ | Aircraft: B-17G (#42-40011).
Organization: 532BS / 381BG of Ridgewell, Essex.
Pilot: Taure, Nicholas F.
Notes: killed in mid air collision.
Location: Ridgewell, Essex England.
Damage (0-5 increasing damage): 4
source: Aviation Archaeology http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/ | Aircraft: B-17G (#42-97511).
Organization: 535BS / 381BG of Ridgewell, Essex.
Pilot: Smith, James E.
Notes: killed in mid air collision.
Location: Ridgewell, Essex England.
Damage (0-5 increasing damage): 4
source: Aviation Archaeology http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/ | Aircraft: B-24H (#42-95076).
Organization: 732BS / 453BG of Old Buckenham, Norfolk.
Pilot: Baldwin, Donald C.
Notes: forced landing.
Location: ALG Ashford England.
Damage (0-5 increasing damage): 4
source: Aviation Archaeology http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/ | Aircraft: B-24J (#42-51340).
Organization: 576BS / 392BG of Wendling, Norfolk.
Pilot: [parked aircraft].
Notes: ground accident weather.
Location: Wendling, Norfolk England.
Damage (0-5 increasing damage): 2
source: Aviation Archaeology http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/ | Aircraft: P-47D (#42-22781W).
Organization: 63FS / 56FG of Boxted, Essex.
Pilot: Kopas, Andrew G.
Notes: bailed out due to mid air collision.
Location: Hockley {WL 273123} England.
Damage (0-5 increasing damage): 4
source: Aviation Archaeology http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/ | Aircraft: P-47D (#42-75232).
Organization: 63FS / 56FG of Boxted, Essex.
Pilot: Dahl, Max H.
Notes: killed in mid air collision.
Location: Chelmsford {WL 097073} England.
Damage (0-5 increasing damage): 4
source: Aviation Archaeology http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/ | Aircraft: P-47D (#44-19951).
Organization: 63FS / 56FG of Boxted, Essex.
Pilot: Scherz, Willard C.
Notes: take off accident.
Location: Boxted, Essex England.
Damage (0-5 increasing damage): 4
source: Aviation Archaeology http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/ | Aircraft: P-47D (#44-20722).
Organization: 63FS / 56FG of Boxted, Essex.
Pilot: Hall, Robert S.
Notes: killed in a take off accident.
Location: Boxted, Essex England.
Damage (0-5 increasing damage): 4
source: Aviation Archaeology http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/ | Aircraft: P-47M (#44-21159).
Organization: 61FS / 56FG of Boxted, Essex.
Pilot: Lightfoot, Edward B.
Notes: crash belly landing due to mechanical failure.
Location: Boxted, Essex England.
Damage (0-5 increasing damage): 3
source: Aviation Archaeology http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/ | Aircraft: P-51D15 (#44-15593).
Organization: / 1SF of Honington, Suffolk.
Pilot: Schofield, William E.
Notes: taxiing accident.
Location: Honington, Suffolk England.
Damage (0-5 increasing damage): 3
source: Aviation Archaeology http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/ | Aircraft: P-51D5 (#44-11236).
Organization: 368FS / 359FG of East Wretham, Norfolk.
Pilot: Thompson, Henry L.
Notes: landing accident.
Location: East Wretham, Norfolk England.
Damage (0-5 increasing damage): 3
source: Aviation Archaeology http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/ | Aircraft: P-51D5 (#44-13611).
Organization: / 1SF of Honington, Suffolk.
Pilot: Post, Edwin A.
Notes: taxiing accident.
Location: Honington, Suffolk England.
Damage (0-5 increasing damage): 3
source: Aviation Archaeology http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/ |
Mission "8th AF 803"
Industry and rail targets in central Germany
January 21, 1945Primary source for mission statistics: Mighty Eighth War Diary by Roger A. Freeman | | | Aircraft
Sent | Aircraft
Effective | Bomb Tonnage | Enemy
Aircraft
X-P-D | Enemy
Aircraft
(on gnd)
X-P-D | USAAF
Aircraft
X-E-D | USAAF
Personnel
KIA-WIA-MIA | Notes | | 912 | 753 | 2092.0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 8-9-59 | 21-15-57 | 385BG aircraft crashes Bradwell
390BG aircraft crashes sea
2x 381BG aircraft collide
458BG aircraft crash-lands Woodbridge airfield
458BG aircraft crash-lands Rheims
453BG aircraft abandoned France
447BG aircraft abandoned France
44BG aircraft crashes Continent
490BG aircraft crashes continent | | Mission Targets Click blue links for maps, photos and other documents. This will open a new tab in your browser | | ASCHAFFENBURG, GERMANY - - Railroad | marshalling yard | 257 A/C | photos (2) documents (0) | | ASCHAFFENBURG, GERMANY - UTA - Industry | vehicles | 66 A/C | photos (2) documents (0) | | PFORZHEIM, GERMANY - - Railroad | marshalling yard | 24 A/C | | | MANNHEIM, GERMANY - Daimler-Benz - Industry | vehicles | 3 A/C | | | MANNHEIM, GERMANY - - Railroad | marshalling yard | 254 A/C | | | MANNHEIM, GERMANY - - Transportation | bridge | 21 A/C | | | MANNHEIM, GERMANY - - Transportation | bridge | 16 A/C | | | PFORZHEIM, GERMANY - - Railroad | marshalling yard | 10 A/C | | | SPEYER, GERMANY - - Railroad | marshalling yard | 4 A/C | | | HEILBRONN, GERMANY - - Railroad | marshalling yard | 68 A/C | photos (1) documents (0) | | PFORZHEIM, GERMANY - - Railroad | marshalling yard | 11 A/C | |
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Sent | Aircraft
Effective | Bomb Tonnage | Enemy
Aircraft
X-P-D | Enemy
Aircraft
(on gnd)
X-P-D | USAAF
Aircraft
X-E-D | USAAF
Personnel
KIA-WIA-MIA | Notes | | 523 | 469 | 0.0 | 0-0-0 | 8-0-1 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | | | Mission Targets Click blue links for maps, photos and other documents. This will open a new tab in your browser | | - - Escort | | 370 A/C | | | - - Sweep | | 45 A/C | | | - - Reconnaissance | scout | 26 A/C | | | - - Escort | | 22 A/C | |
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Sent | Aircraft
Effective | Bomb Tonnage | Enemy
Aircraft
X-P-D | Enemy
Aircraft
(on gnd)
X-P-D | USAAF
Aircraft
X-E-D | USAAF
Personnel
KIA-WIA-MIA | Notes | | 36 | 34 | 0.0 | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 | 0-0-1 | | | Mission Targets Click blue links for maps, photos and other documents. This will open a new tab in your browser | | GERMANY - - Reconnaissance | H2X | 1 A/C | | | GERMANY - - Reconnaissance | photo | 6 A/C | | | CONTINENT / UK - - Reconnaissance | weather | 5 A/C | | | - - Communications | radio countermeasures | 5 A/C | | | - - Air Sea Rescue | | 14 A/C | | | AZORES/ATLANTIC/UK - - Reconnaissance | weather | 4 A/C | |
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