301st Bomb Group, Mission No. 244, 8 Apr 1945, Halberstadt, Germany. Briefing again took place in the middle of the night--0240 hours. All operational aircraft were airborne by 0700 hours, and the two spares returned early as there were no aborts. All aircraft had returned from the mission by 1519 hours. The three squadrons of the 401st made up the 94th Combat Wing "B" Group on this mission. While weather over both England and the Continent was clear, the primary target, the Luftwaffe airfield at Lerbst, was blotted out by the smoke from preceding Groups. The 401st therefore turned to the secondary target, the marshalling yards at Halberstadt. While smoke also obscured this target, photos showed that the Group's bombs had caused heavy damage to the marshalling yards. No enemy aircraft or flak was encountered, and all aircraft returned to base safely.