18 June 1944
Strike Photo - Bremerhaven, Germany 18 June 1944 466th BG
Harold Jack Flaugher (courtesy of Mrs Tracy Flaugher, via Marilyn Jeffers Walton)
Henry H. Northrop's POW card - Stalag Luft 3 (courtesy of his daughter Marielaina Haag, via Marilyn Jeffers Walton)
Lt Dee J. Butler (courtesy of his daughter Kay Gamble, via Marilyn Jeffers Walton)
Dee J. Butler's POW card at Stalag Luft 3, Sagan (courtesy of his daughter Kay Gamble, via Marilyn Jeffers Walton)
Navigator Frank Deimel in Topeka, Kansas, just before being sent overseas to England with the Henry H. Northrop crew.
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BOMB TARGETS OF OPPORTUNITY
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| Tonnage dropped | 13 T |
BOMB TARGETS OF OPPORTUNITY
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| Tonnage dropped | 7.5 T |
INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
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| Tonnage dropped | 208.5 T |
OIL REFINERY
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| Tonnage dropped | 43 T |
HARBOUR INSTALLATION
B-24 Liberator
Some 466th BG a/c bombed Bremerhaven as a target of opportunity. Luneburg had been the primary.
Group
The 466th Bomb Group flew B-24 Liberators from Attlebridge, Norfolk, during the last year of the war in Europe. The Group flew 232 missions in the course of the year and celebrated the 100th one by inviting local people onto the base to mark the...
| Tonnage dropped | 206 T |
INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
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| Tonnage dropped | 131 T |
INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
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The same tactics of dropping external fuel tans upon trains and setting them alight with strafing are used on this target. Heavy damage is inflicted upon the trains and the Germans suffer heavy troop casualties. 2nd Bomb Division was made up of 44th Bomb Group, 93rd Bomb Group, 389th Bomb Group, 392nd Bomb Group, 445th Bomb Group, 446th Bomb Group, 448th Bomb Group, 453rd Bomb Group, 458th Bomb Group, 467th Bomb Group, 492nd Bomb Group.
| Tonnage dropped | 444 T |
INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
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Oil refinery targets are the number one priority targets at this stage of the conflict. The There is little or no Luftwaffe fighter opposition. Anti-aircraft opposition is heavy. 10 of the 11 bombers lost on these missions this day are attributed to AA fire. 1 bomber is lost due to unknown causes. 1st Bomb Division was made up of 91st Bomb Group, 92nd Bomb Group, 303rd Bomb Group, 305th Bomb Group, 306th Bomb Group, 351st Bomb Group, 379th Bomb Group, 381st Bomb Group, 384th Bomb Group, 389th Bomb Group, 398th Bomb Group, 401st Bomb Group, 457th Bomb Group. 3rd Bomb Division was made up of 34th Bomb Group, 94th Bomb Group, 95th Bomb Group, 96th Bomb Group, 100th Bomb Group, 385th Bomb Group, 388th Bomb Group, 390th Bomb Group, 447th Bomb Group, 452nd Bomb Group, 486th Bomb Group, 487th Bomb Group, 490th Bomb Group, 493rd Bomb Group.
Division
Division
| Tonnage dropped | 798.5 T |
OIL REFINERY
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| Tonnage dropped | 48 T |
OIL REFINERY
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| Tonnage dropped | 146.5 T |
OIL REFINERY
B-17 Flying Fortress
457th BG - MISSION NO. 69 - HAMBURG, GERMANY
18 JUNE, 1944
The oil refineries in the dock area of Hamburg were the targets today. Earlier bombing efforts of the Eighth had been directed at synthetic oil refineries. Crude oil refineries had not been attacked until a few days prior to this mission. The effort. Was now to attack the crude oil refineries in western Germany. Thirteen hundred bombers participated in this mission.
The 457th furnished two 18 ship boxes, one as the high box in the 94th A Combat Wing, and the other as the high box in the B Combat Wing. Both targets were in the Hamburg area. Captain Wilbur D. Snow was Air Commander with Lt. Edward B. Dozier as pilot of the A box, and Major Fred A. Spencer as Commander with Lt. Richard T. Bennett as pilot of the B box.
The undercast prevented visual bombing and strike photos showed bombing results were poor. No enemy aircraft opposition was encountered. Antiaircraft fire was intense but fairly inaccurate; three aircraft suffered flak damage.
Briefing information had reported 250 antiaircraft guns in the Hamburg area.
Division
Group
The 457th Bomb Group began combat operations during the Big Week of 20-25 February when American bombers carried out concentrated raids against German aircraft bases, factories and assembly plants. The air crews' targets on that first mission were...
| Tonnage dropped | 97 T |
OIL REFINERY
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| Tonnage dropped | 80 T |
INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
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| Tonnage dropped | 187 T |
OIL REFINERY
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| Tonnage dropped | 210 T |
AIRFIELD
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| Tonnage dropped | 24 T |
AIRFIELD
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| Tonnage dropped | 33 T |
INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
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| Tonnage dropped | 18 T |
AIRFIELD
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Division
| Tonnage dropped | 108 T |
V-1 MISSILE SITES
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| Tonnage dropped | 220 T |
INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
B-24 Liberator
Some 466th BG a/c bombed Wesermunde as a target of opportunity. The primary had been Luneburg airfield.
Group
The 466th Bomb Group flew B-24 Liberators from Attlebridge, Norfolk, during the last year of the war in Europe. The Group flew 232 missions in the course of the year and celebrated the 100th one by inviting local people onto the base to mark the...
| Tonnage dropped | 72 T |
MARSHALLING YARDS
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| Tonnage dropped | 3 T |
Military | Captain | Pilot | 388th Bomb Group
newly assigned May 1944
Military | First Lieutenant | Bombardier | 388th Bomb Group
The person with this name and birth/death dates buring at Fort Bliss National Cemetery is listed as "Master Sergeant - US Army" on his headstone. Boozer is wearing Captain's bars in his photo. This birth and death date may well be for the wrong ...
Military | First Lieutenant | Right Waist Gunner | 458th Bomb Group
On 18 June 1944, William Brodek flew as a substitute for Joseph Risko, who had frostbite, on B-24 “Rhapsody in Junk” #4128733. The aircraft crashed in Blick, Germany, near the village of Süderbrarup in Schleswig-Holstein. Brodek was taken as a Prisoner...
Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 458th Bomb Group
Dee Butler was Co-Pilot of B-24 'Rhapsody In Junk' #41-28733, shot down by flak on the 18 June 1944 mission to the Fassberg airfield, Germany. Crashed in Blick, Germany, near the village Süderbrarup in Schleswig-Holstein. Prisoner of War (POW) Stalag...
Military | Sergeant | Left Waist Gunner | 458th Bomb Group
Alexander Cardenas served as a waist gunner with the 754th Bomb Squadron of the 458th Bomb Group.
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Military | Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 458th Bomb Group
Crashed in Blick, Germany, near the village Süderbrarup in Schleswig-Holstein on 6/18/44 in B-24 “Rhapsody In Junk” #4128733. Prisoner of War (POW) at Stalag Luft IV.
Military | Staff Sergeant | Radio Operator | 458th Bomb Group
Crashed in Blick, Germany, near the village Süderbrarup in Schleswig-Holstein on 6/18/44 in B-24 “Rhapsody In Junk” # 4128733. Prisoner of War (POW) Stalag Luft IV.
Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 458th Bomb Group
Deimel had studied to become a priest. He crashed in Blick, Germany, near the village Süderbrarup in Schleswig-Holstein in B-24 “Rhapsody In Junk” #41-28733 when it was shot down by flak on the 18 June 1944 mission to the Fassberg airfield, Germany....
Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 388th Bomb Group
Military | Staff Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner/Flight Engineer | 458th Bomb Group
Flaugher was Engineer/Top Turret Gunner on B-24 "Rhapsody In Junk" 41-28733 of 458th Bomb Group / 754th Bomb Squadron when it was shot down on the 18 June 1944 mission to Fassberg, Germany.
...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 28/7/43; Gore 6/8/43; Pendleton 12/8/43; Reno 14/8/43; Pierre 16/8/43; Assigned 561BS/388BG Knettishall 3/9/43; crashed on take off for France 13/8/44 with Leon Sutton, Co-pilot: Harlan Thompson, Navigator: George Healy, Bombardier:...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 26/11/43; New Castle 10/12/43; Presque Is 15/12/43; Assigned 547BS/384BG [SO-C] Grafton Underwood 21/1/44; sal battle damaged 27/4/44. NEVADA AVENGER.
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B-24 Liberator
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 27 May 2015 11:44:42 | general ira snapsorter | Changes to event |
| Sources | ||
Mission details added courtesy of Diane Elizabeth Reese from 457th Bomb Group Mission Documents. http://www.457thbombgroup.org/ |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 22 January 2015 03:48:39 | 466thHistorian | Changes to event |
| Sources | ||
466th BG Historian |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 22 January 2015 03:47:18 | 466thHistorian | Changes to event |
| Sources | ||
466th BG Historian |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:43:07 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham, 8th Air Force missions research database / Stan Bishop's 'Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces', the Combat Chronology of the US Army Air Forces and the work of Roger Freeman including the 'Mighty Eighth War Diary'. |
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