DOCUMENT 53530

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401st Bomb Group, Mission No. 239, 30 Mar 1945, Bremen, Germany. Briefing took place at 0720 hours for this mission. Aircraft were loaded with twelve 500 pound GP's and 2,300 gallons of gas. By 1132 hours all aircraft were airborne on the mission. One spare returned early because unneeded. At 1505 hours gale winds of 40 to 45 miles per hour are noted. On this mission the Group again furnished three squadrons, which made up the 94th Combat Wing "C" Group. Because of the usual cloud cover, the bombing run was begun using PFF (radar) techniques. However, just before bombs away the clouds broke, and the three Lead Bombardiers attempted to make corrections for visual runs. Unfortunately, it was too late to make the necessary corrections, and the bombs of all three squadrons missed the MPI. However, the bombs did land in the middle of the dock area at Bremen. No enemy aircraft appeared, but the Group was tracked by accurate flak for five minutes over the target area. As a result, three aircraft suffered major battle damage and twenty others sustained minor damage. Two crew members were wounded. By 1829 hours all operational aircraft had returned from the mission. However, Flying Control observed sourly, "Very 'screwed up' return. All aircraft came home individually and there was so much chatter over R/T that it was almost impossible to maintain R/T contact."

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Units

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: You All Right, Der Grossarschvogel
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 615th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: No. 2 Bandwagon, Mrs. Wing Ding
  • Unit: 94th Combat Bomb Wing 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron
Damaged B-17 Flying Fortresses including (serial number 44-6146) of the 401st Bomb Group, and of the 486th Bomb Group. Handwritten caption on reverse: 'IN-R, 401BG.' A veteran has handwritten on reverse: 'Winter of 1944. This plane's bombardier was my best friend in high school. We joined the aviation cadets together in fall of 1942. Plane is from the 486th Bomb Group. It was struck in the rear by another plane in formation and tail gunner fell to his death over Germany. The Germans buried him and sent ph
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Little Cheezer
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron 615th Bomb Squadron

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Date:
Contributoracbernstein1
ChangesCreated entry with caption, unit associations, place associations, aircraft associations and mission associations