Description: BOMB TARGETS OF OPPORTUNITY

Notes: 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, 466th Bomb Group, 467th Bomb Group, 489th Bomb Group, 491st Bomb Group,492nd Bomb Group.

Description: INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

Description: INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress

Notes: 1,271 Bombers are sent to bomb industrial targets in Munich, Germany. 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, 398th Bomb Group, 401st Bomb Group, 457th Bomb Group. 3rd Bomb Division was made up of B-17s is 94th Bomb Group, 95 Bomb Group, 96th Bomb Group, 100th Bomb Group, 385th Bomb Group, 388th Bomb Group, 390th Bomb Group, 447th Bomb Group, 452nd Bomb Group. 457th BG - MISSION NO. 87 - MUNICH, GERMANY - 12 JULY, 1944 Heavy cloudy weather still persisted over all of enemy occupied Europe. Visual missions on strategic and tactical targets were impossible. Munich still remained the logical target for a PFF attack. Twelve hundred seventy Eighth Air Force heavies were dispatched in the operation on this hub of aerial and Iransportation activity. Again the 457th Group furnished thirty- six aircraft to form the lead and low boxes of the 94th B Combat Wing. Major Spencer led the Wing in a PFF plane, while Captain Reilly led the low box. Takeoff was into a cloud filled sky. The penetration route was exactly the same as the mission the day before. Again French based enemy fighters chose to remain on the ground. En route to Munich an occasional break in the clouds revealed landmarks on the ground. From the 1P, a normal run was made into the city with no malfunctions. When the flak belt around the city was pierced, the fire was more accurate than before. Lt. Gerald L. Kerr's plane fell back with No. 1 engine smoking and prop feathered, presumably a casualty to flak. The craft remained under control and later crashed into the Alps. Five of the crew survived. The lead box released its bombs by PFF. A hole in the clouds revealed the Hadern suburbs to be directly below. Although clouds obscured the ground from that point, a plotting of the bomb fall placed them in the Ober Sendling industrial and residential district, three miles south of the center of Munich. The low box was unable to see the bombs released in the lead box and failed to drop. Accurate flak persisted as the formation crossed the area. Lt. Edward Kozel's plane lost its No. 1 propeller and lagged behind the formation. No. 3 and No. 4 engines had low oil pressure. It headed for Switzerland and later landed there. Lt. Robert L. Kaufman's plane was hit by flak, but made it back as far as the English Channel, where the crew bailed out, and all were picked up by Air/Sea Rescue. After the force left Munich, a hole in the clouds revealed the small German town of Engstingen and the low box aimed its bombs at this target. They were scattered over a wide area. Eleven hundred fifty planes had attacked Munich. Twenty-six airplanes were lost, eight of them went to Switzerland. Although it was impossible to determine the main impact of the bombs, photos were taken through the nine-tenths undercast, and indicated a bombing pattern in the center of the city, rather than in the outlying suburbs. The following crews were lost on this date: - Lt Gerald L. Kerr; Lt Edward Kozel; Lt Robert L. Kaufman