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Narrative - Official Air Force Mission Description

Mission 228: Big Week continues with 3 areas in Germany targetted with the loss of 16 bombers and 5 fighters:

336 B-17s are dispatched to the Gutersioh, Lippstadt and Werl Airfields; because of thick overcast, 285 hit Achmer, Hopsten, Rheine, Diepholz, Quakenbruck and Bramsche Airfields and the marshaling yards at Coevorden and Lingen; they claim 12-5-8 Luftwaffe aircraft; 8 B-17s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 63 damaged; casualties are 4 KIA, 13 WIA and 75 MIA. 2. 281 B-17s are dispatched to Diepholz Airfield and Brunswick; 175 hit the primaries and 88 hit Alhorn and Verden Airfields and Hannover; they claim 2-5-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 B-17s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 36 damaged; casualties are 20 KIA, 4 WIA and 57 MIA. 3. 244 B-24s are dispatched to Achmer and Handorf Airfields; 11 hit Achmer Airfield and 203 hit Diepholz, Verden and Hesepe Airfields and Lingen; they claim 5-6-4 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 B-24s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 6 damaged; casualties are 3 WIA and 31 MIA.

Escort for Mission 228 is provided by 69 P-38s, 542 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 68 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; the P-38s claim 0-1-0 Luftwaffe aircraft, 1 P-38 is damaged beyond repair; the P-47s claim 19-3-14 Luftwaffe aircraft, 2 P-47s are lost, 2 are damaged beyond repair, 3 are damaged and 2 pilots are MIA; the P-51s claim 14-1-4 Luftwaffe aircraft, 3 P-51s are lost and the pilots are MIA.

Mission 229: 5 of 5 B-17s drop 250 bundles of leaflets on Rouen, Caen, Paris and Amiens, France at 2215-2327 hours 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

German damage report (Brunswick) - Querum, Schuntersiedlung, station. 26 dead. (translated from German)	source: Brunswick city website http://www.braunschweig.de/kultur_tourismus/stadtportraet/geschichte/stadtchronik.html
303BG Mission Report - Target: German Airdrome, Diepholz, Germany. Crews Dispatched: 36 (358BS - 9, 359th - 9, 360th - 9, 427th - 9). Length of Mission: 6 hours, 10 minutes. Bomb Load: 12 x 500 lb G.P. bombs plus 1 A/C w/ 3000 lbs nickles. Bombing Altitude: 21,000 ft. Ammo Fired: 5,510 rounds. The 303BG-A and 303BG-B Groups attacked the Diepholz Airdrome instead of the assigned primary target at Werl. The "A" Group 500-lb. M43 H.E. bombs dropped from 21,000 feet achieved very good results. The "B" Group could not drop its bombs because cloud cover obscured the location of any target of opportunity. Three "B" Group aircraft jettisoned their bombs; one in the Zuider Zee and two in the English Channel. The other aircraft brought their bombs back to Molesworth. One 303G-B B-17 aborted. Only a few scattered bursts of flak were thrown up at the formation and no enemy fighters attacked the bombers. Some gunners said that enemy fighters were ducking in and out of the clouds below, but they showed no inclination to come up and mix with the P-47s guarding the Fortresses. All aircraft returned safely to Molesworth and there were no casualties. 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 - 30 aircraft were sent on this mission. 42-29848 Lt. W. H. Ritzema - Crash-landed, crew safe. 42-29858 Lt. H. R. Evans - Crash-landed, crew safe. 42-30866 Lt. A. M. Kogelman - Ditched. MIA 2, KIA 2.	source: 351st Bomb Group web page http://www.351st.org/ken.harbour
384BG Mission Report - 384th BG Mission Number 64. Primary Target: Fighter Field & Aircraft Storage Depot - Werl, Germany. Target Attacked : Target of Opportunity (Visual): Railroad Marshalling Yard - Lingen, Germany 40 aircraft assigned to this mission: Completed Mission - 36. Aborted - 3. Returned Early - 1 42-29651 Clayton, John E - aborted, Landed away Metfield due to technical failure; bombed Target of Opportunity 42-29703 West, George B - Landed away Rattlesden due to technical failures; bombs jettisoned in Channel 42-29723 Rinne, Austin Dean - aborted when #4 engine threw oil excessively and oil pressure dropped very rapidly; rtd bombs 42-31235 Herbert, Joseph R - Landed away Attlebridge due to technical failure; bombs dropped on TOP 42-31375 Courtemanche, Ralph E - carried nickles and 6x500GP on Target of Opportunity Lingen, Ger 42-31516 Jeter, Sidney R - aborted b/c #3 prop began throwing oil excessively, was feathered for examination, and could not be unfeathered; 12x500GP rtd to base 42-37776 Rich, John (NMI) - Landed away Borham w tail gunner wounded; bombed Target of Opportunity in Germany 42-37789 Knapp, Paul B - aborted at 1345 hrs due to runaway #2 supercharger; bombs rtd 42-39888 Foster, James E - dropped 6x500GP, 24 parcels G-27 Nickles on TOP	source: 384th Bomb Group web page http://384thBombGroup.com/
388BG Mission Report - On this mission, which was PFF, the 388th furnished an "A" and "B" Group which composed the 45th "B" Combat Wing. The 452nd Bomb Group furnished 2 a/c for the "A" and 4 a/c for our "B" Groups. 34 a/c plus a PFF a/c were airborne between 0915 and 0940 hours. Two of our a/c aborted for mechanical reasons. Just before the formation reached the enemy Coast, the PFF a/c aborted and our deputy leader took over the lead. The briefed course was followed to the target which was covered by 10/10th clouds. With no PFF a/c, the bombs were dropped on the flares of the PFF a/c leading the Combat Wing ahead. Bombs were away at 1407 hours from 24,500 feet on a mag heading of 110 degrees. The formation then proceeded on the briefed course back to the base. Meager flak was seen at the enemy Coast, target area and Hanover. Enemy fighter opposition was very weak. One half hearted attack was made on our "A" Group by six FW 190's from the target to the enemy Coast on the way out. All of our a/c returned to base between 1616 and 1704 hours.	source: 388th Bomb Group web page http://www.388bg.info
389th Bomb Group Mission Report Dropped 12 x 500 ponders on Me 109 factory near Osnabruck. Flak was light but I thought it was heavy - found out later that it was very moderate. Saw no enemy fighters but plenty of friendly fighter support. Target smashed - Big flak hole over radio operator position.	source: 389TH BG: Personal Mission Log of Bernard L. Prueher http://www.hrhodes.com/Mission%20Logs/mission.htm
392nd Bomb Group Mission Report	source: 392nd Bomb Group web page http://www.b24.net/missions/
401BG / 613BS Mission Report - The 613th flew as the Lead Squadron of the Lead Box. Major Edwin W. Brown, the Squadron Commander, flew the Squadron and Group Lead. Bombing was to be done visually, however, upon reaching the target it was found to be overcast and a target of opportunity had to be selected. The target that was bombed was identified as Emlichein, Germany, near the Netherlands border. Enemy opposition was composed of a few enemy fighters and meager and inaccurate flak. The following crews participated: Hess, Locher, Vokaty, Keith, Riegler, Sheahan, Fitchett, Lew.	source: 613th Bombardment Squadron History
401BG / 614BS Mission Report - This attack was on a German airdrome and repair installation at Lippstadt, Germany. The 36 401st aircraft were led by Major E. Brown, the Group furnishing the Lead and Low boxes of the Wing formation. The bombing was to have been done visually, but, on reaching the target it was found to be overcast. A target of opportunity was quickly selected and bombed and was later identified as Emlichein, Germany. This was near the Dutch - German border. A few Luftwaffe fighters attacked the formation without result and the flak proved to be meager and inaccurate. The nine crews from the Squadron were: Smith, Stine, C.L. Wilson, Owens, Cammack, Stimson, Kaufman, Arneson, Kirkhuff.	source: 614th Bombardment Squadron History www.401bg.org
401BG / 615BS Mission Report - After a false start, the mission being scrubbed at 0039 hrs that morning, the 36 crews of the 401st were briefed for this mission at 0615 hrs with all aircraft airborne by 1051 hrs. The mission leader was Major E.W. Brown. The target of the lead Group on this raid was identified as Emlichheim, near the Netherlands border. The attack was made on the factory and shop installations with good results. The Low Group target was the Hopstein airdrome near Rheine, with excellent bombing patterns obtained on twelve hangars. All 36 aircraft of the Group bombed these two targets of opportunity visually. Crews: 42-31091 Dempsey, 42-31069 Trimble, 42-31485 Rumsey, 42-39873 Byrd, 42-31619 Ferdyn, 42-31521 Grinham, 42-30855 Campbell, 42-37843 Arneson (614BS).	source: 615th Bombardment Squadron History www.401bg.org
401BG / 612BS Mission Report - Crews: Dunaway, Dailey, Fox, Sellers, Hersey, Smith, West, Johnson, Tanner, Wells.	source: 612th Bombardment Squadron History
44BG Mission Report - Again the Group put up 37 aircraft but several were forced to return early. The 67th put up 10 with 7 of them bombing. The target was Brunswick, Germany or rather Handorf Airdrome near Brunswick, with the purpose of whittling down and disrupting the Luft waffe as much as possible. The raid was quite successful only because a target of opportunity, the Diepholz Airdrome suffered many direct hits. However, the enemy fighters were only seen, with no attacks because of the very excellent fighter support we enjoyed. The flak was very meager and quite inaccurate. The main difficulty of the whole mission was the inadequacy of the electric flying suits in their quantity. The weather was very cold and quite severe on the personnel who were flying without these suits. Luckily, very few frost-bites occurred. The bomb loading was 52 x 100 lb M47Als per plane. Major Jansen, 68th, was Command Pilot.	source: 44th Bomb Group web page http://www.8thairforce.com/44thbg
446th Bomb Group Mission Report Handorf Heavy clouds caused the group to alter its plans, and bombed Hesepe airfield and Lingen, Germany. Bombs were seen falling on a runway, a railroad, and a camouflaged building.	source: 446th Bomb Group www.446bg.com
447BG Mission Report - Briefing was at 0630 hours. The target was an airfield, Diepholz, 35 nautical miles southwest of Bremen. Take off started at 0850 with the last ship airborne at 0908 hours. The attacking force was made up of 21 B-17 groups and 8 B-24 groups. The bombing altitude was 22,000 feet. We hit our primary target with excellent results, but most of the groups hit targets of opportunity. All of our planes returned home with no losses, landing started at 1610 hours.	source: 447 Bomb Group Association http://www.447bg.com
457th Bomb Group Mission Link	source: 457 Bomb Group http://www.457thbombgroup.org
91st BG / 323nd BS Mission Report - Germany was attacked again at Gutersloh and Achmer. Eight ships of 323rd squadron took part. Six of these ships completed the mission and returned to base. The flak was quite heavy as well as fighter opposition. . Our ships #712, #040 and #759 were flying as an extra three-ship element. They were hit hard by enemy fighters and two of them were knocked down, ship #712, Lt. Ward and crew and ship #040, Lt. Osterburg and crew. Both seemed under control when last seen and it is believed that personnel had a very good chance of getting safely to the ground. Ship #712 was last seen near Winden, Germany. Ship #040 was last seen near Achner, Germany.	source: 323rd Bomb Squadron / 91BG Mission Report http://www.91stbombgroup.com/
91st BG / 322nd BS Mission Report - Raid on the Achmer A/B at Gutersloh, Germany. Bomb Load: 12 x 500. Bombing Altitude: 20,500. Bombing Results: Generally believed to be good. Time: Take off 1035. Target 1450. Ar. Base 1655. A/A Fire3: No A/A fire was reported at the target. Meager, inaccurate A/A fire was observed from several places enroute to and from the target. Some ground rockets were reported, continuous following fire was used for the most part.	source: 322rd Bomb Squadron / 91BG Mission Report http://www.91stbombgroup.com/
91st BG / 324th BS Mission Report - Target: Achmer (Gutersloh). Weather prevented attack on briefed target - Gutersloh A/D and our A/C dropped through 5/10ths undercast to blanket the southern dispersal areas of Achmer A/D with a good concentration of bombs. Enemy fighter opposition was intense and we lost four 324th bombers which were unable to stay in formation. There seemed to be some confusion from our fighter support which further added to our difficulties. Flak was inaccurate.	source: 91st BG / 324th BS Mission Report http://www.91stbombgroup.com/
91BG / 401BS Mission Report - Mission to Achmer, Germany. Achmer: 7 Officers and 13 Enlisted Men Missing In Action. Achmer: Reported as good. Bursts were seen in Hangar area of airdrome. A target of opportunity was attacked. ENEMY AIRCRAFT: 20 to 30 FW 190s, Me 109s, and a few Me 110s were sighted West of Hanover. The main formation of this group received no attacks but the Composite Group did. Attacks were pressed home on the latter for a period of 30 minutes. FIGHTER ESCORT: Due to considerable change in route, complete fighter cover was not available. Crews, however, praised the fighter cover which was rendered. Enroute to the target, meager, inaccurate AA fire was observed coming from vicinities of Egmond and Linden. At Bielefield AA fire was meager to moderate and rather accurate, Some ground rockets were reported at vicinity of Osnabruck. MIA: A/C 572, A/C 073.	source: 91st BG / 401st BS Mission Report http://www.91stbombgroup.com/

Mission

MISSION DETAILS

Mission "8th AF Fighter Command Fighter Operation 246" Fighter support for 8th AF 228 February 21, 1944

Mission "8th AF Fighter Command Fighter Operation 246"
Fighter support for 8th AF 228
February 21, 1944