Narrative - Official Air Force Mission Description
| Mission 214: 53 of 54 B-24s hit the V-weapon site at Siracourt, France while 57 of 73 B-24s hit the V-weapon site at Watten, France; 41 B-24s are damaged and 10 airmen are WIA; escort is 89 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s. 88 of 236 B-17s hit the marshaling yards at Frankfurt, Germany using blind-bombing techniques; 107 other B-17s hit targets of opportunity; they claim 1-3-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 13 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 108 damaged; casualties are 11 KIA, 4 WIA and 130 MIA; escort is provided by 77 P-38s, 435 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 41 Ninth Air Force P-51s; they claim 16-1-8 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 P-38s, 3 P-47s and 4 P-51s are lost, 1 P-47 is damaged beyond repair and 4 P-47s are damaged; casualties are 9 MIA. Mission 215: 6 of 6 B-17s drop 360 bundles of leaflets in a CARPETBAGGER operation over Caen, Rouen, Paris, Rennes and Amiens, France at 2106-2136 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
| 303BG Mission Report - City area, Frankfurt, Germany (PFF). Crew Dispatched: 20 plus 2 spares (358BS - 0, 359th - 8, 360th - 7, 427th - 7). Crew Members Lost or Wounded: 1 minor wound, 1 frostbite. Length of Mission: 7 hours, 40 minutes. Bomb Load: 21 or 42 x 65 lb M47A1 Indendiary bombs. Bombing Altitude: 26,400 ft. The 303rd dispatched 20 aircraft and five aborted. Flak in the target area was moderate and very accurate. Two aircraft sustained major damage and ten endured minor damage. About eight single-engine fighters, believed to be FW-190s and one ME-109 were the only enemy aircraft seen. They attacked only the lead 379BG with a loss of two fighters before friendly fighters drove them away. Fighter support was as briefed and was very good. Chaff was effective in diverting the anti-aircraft fire. The 17 attacking aircraft dropped 16 1/2 tons of 65-lb. M47A1 incendiary bombs from 26,400 feet. Germany was covered with 9/10 cloud cover with only a few breaks, necessitating PFF bombing. All aircraft returned safely, although twelve aircraft sustained flak damage. 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/ | | 384BG Mission Report - 384th BG Mission Number 61. Primary Target: Military Installations - Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany. Target Attacked : Primary (PFF). 24 aircraft assigned to this mission: Completed Mission - 18. Failed To Return - 1. Aborted - 1. Scrubbed - 1. Spare, Returned As Briefed - 3
42-29703 Knapp, Paul B - Landed away Bradewell due to fuel shortage
42-31484 Cosentino, George (NMI) - Aborted at 1026 hrs b/c of detonation in #1, #2, and #3 engines, causing a/c to lose grp; 12x500GP rtd
42-37793 DeFrees, Norman F - c/l near Brighton on return; plane rtd to service
42-37885 Lotz, William H - Carried 24 parcels of G-25 Nickles plus 6x500GP; all dropped on target
42-38014 Thompson, Siguard (NMI) - Landed away Holmchurch due to fuel shortage
42-39784 Covington, Royston Truitt - Failed to Return - MIA; aborted at 1048 hrs after first and only attack by enemy aircraft on our wing; he jettisoned his bombs; flak, cr Rethel, France; MACR 2496 | source: 384th Bomb Group web page http://384thBombGroup.com/ | | 388BG Mission Report - For this PFF mission, the 388th furnished one Group which was low Group of the 45th Combat Wing. Only two Wings of the Division participated in the mission. The 45th CW was the second wing of this Division, which in turn followed the 1st Division over the Target. The 2nd Division was assigned Special Military Installations in Northern France. 24 A/C of our Group were airborne by 0751 hours. 6 A/C aborted for mechanical reasons. One of these aborts, Captain Brown in a/c #207, landed at Great Sailing. The remaining a/c assembled without difficulty and proceeded to the Target. The course was as briefed. Bombs were dropped with a three second delay on the Group ahead at 1138 hours from 23,500 feet. No enemy fighters were directed against this Group. Flak over the Target was heavy and very accurate. A few inaccurate burst were seen at the enemy coast. All of our a/c returned to base by 1534 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/ | | 44BG Mission Report - A return engagement to Watten, France was made today with 28 of the 44th dispatched (7 of them 67th). Major Jansen, 68th Squadron, was Lead Pilot. The run was made visually but with poor results. The flak was moderate heavy accurate, with some men in the Group being injured. Enemy fighters were seen but they kept their distance because of the excellent fighter escort our-heavies had. Return to base was at 1130 hours. Lt. Hamlyn, pilot of one of the 68th planes, sustained a serious facial flak wound, so it was necessary for his co-pilot Lt. Altemus and T/Sgt. Norton acting as co-pilot to bring the ship back safely. | source: 44th Bomb Group web page http://www.8thairforce.com/44thbg | 446th Bomb Group Mission Report
Noball target, Pas de Calais, France 24 planes dropped through a complete overcast. | source: 446th Bomb Group www.446bg.com | | 447BG Mission Report - Briefing was at 0530 hours. The prime target was the marshalling yards at Frankfurt. 500lb GP bombs made up the load. Take off started at 0800 hours. Lt. Rozmus aborted the mission due to oxygen system failure and Lt. Eastman had to abort due to tank overflow resulting from over filled tanks. The remaining 17 A/C departed the English coast at Felixstowe and attained a bombing altitude of 26,500 feet by the time we reached the Belgium coast at the mouth of the Rhine. In the target area the decision was made to bomb the Weisbaden area. Only 88 B-17s of the 236 ships dispatched bombed the primary. On return our landing started at 1520 hours.
| source: 447 Bomb Group Association http://www.447bg.com |
Non-Combat Accident Reports
Aircraft: B-17G (#42-31045).
Organization: 546BS / 384BG of Grafton Underwood, Northamptonshire.
Pilot: Markow, Henry V.
Notes: crash landing.
Location: Little Staughton/Sta 127 England.
Damage (0-5 increasing damage): 4
source: Aviation Archaeology http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/ | Aircraft: B-17G (#42-31890).
Organization: / XPBG of .
Pilot: LeMond, Tom L Jr.
Notes: ground accident.
Location: Gander Newfoundland.
Damage (0-5 increasing damage): 4
source: Aviation Archaeology http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/ | Aircraft: B-17G (#42-37983).
Organization: 532BS / 381BG of Ridgewell, Essex.
Pilot: Fastrup, Milton A.
Notes: taxiing accident.
Location: Ridgewell, Essex England.
Damage (0-5 increasing damage): 3
source: Aviation Archaeology http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/ | Aircraft: P-47D (#42-75807).
Organization: 310FRS / 27ATG of Southport, Lancashire.
Pilot: Morrow, Harry P.
Notes: ground looped.
Location: Gosfield/Sta 154 England.
Damage (0-5 increasing damage): 3
source: Aviation Archaeology http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/ |
Mission "8th AF Fighter Command Fighter Operation 238"
Fighter support for 8th AF 214 (Frankfurt)
February 08, 1944Primary 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 | | 553 | 553 | 0.0 | 16-1-8 | 0-0-0 | 9-1-4 | 0-0-9 | 56FG crash-lands Manston | | Mission Targets Click blue links for maps, photos and other documents. This will open a new tab in your browser | |
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| Aircraft Losses Click blue links for info on the MIA aircraft (if known). This will open a new tab in your browser. | | |
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