401st Bomb Group, Mission No. 216, 26 Feb 1945, Berlin, Germany. Briefing took place at 0500 hours, and by 0841 hours all 20 aircraft were off on the mission. Four spares returned early, and one aircraft aborted. On this mission the 401st was asked to put up a twelve aircraft squadron operating as a screening force for the 94th Combat Wing. The Group also provided six spares, three for Polebrook and three for Glatton, the other Groups making up the 94th Combat Wing. The screening force dropped 36,000 units of chaff over Berlin, as briefed, and returned without having encountered either enemy fighters or flak. Four of the spares assigned to the Polebrook and Glatton formations returned early as they were not needed to replace aborts, while the other two spares filled in and flew the mission.