DOCUMENT 53704
401st Bomb Group, Mission No. 215, 25 Feb 1945, Munich, Berlin. Briefing took place at 0330 hours. Aircraft loading was six 500 pound RDX's plus 6 M17 IB's. Assembly at 7,500 feet at Cottesmore Buncher. At 0730 hours Flying Control noted: "All aircraft airborne in dark takeoff. Good show." Three of the ships were forced to abort, two with propellers feathered. The 401st again put up three squadrons making up the 94th Combat Wing "B" Group. The primary target, the marshalling yards at Munich, were bombed visually. While a great deal of smoke from bombs dropped by preceding groups covered the area, which was also well camoflaged, strike photos indicated that the Group's bombs had hit in the target area, with results classified as good to excellent. There was no enemy air opposition. Flak over the target was moderate but generally inaccurate and caused no damage. However, the Group ran into accurate flak bursts over the German border resulting in damage to eleven aircraft. By 1703 hours all but three aircraft had returned from the mission, the three having landed at other bases because they were running low on fuel. The last of the three landed back at Deenthorpe at 1757 hours.
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Units
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Day and Night
- Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron 615th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Unit: 401st Bomb Group 615th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Bottle Baby
- Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron 615th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Miss Gee Eyewanna Go Home
- Unit: 401st Bomb Group 614th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron