628

13 September 1944
media-26055.jpeg UPL 26055 map for 8th Air Force mission #628 on September 13, 1944 to Stuttgart; from the estate of Harold Motz, navigator on the Westrope crew, 708th squadron, 447th bomb group

Original map now in the collection of the Museum of the US Air Force, Dayton, Ohio. 447th Bomb Group collection

Timothy Motz

Object Number - UPL 26055 - map for 8th Air Force mission #628 on September 13, 1944 to Stuttgart; from the estate of Harold Motz, navigator on the Westrope crew, 708th...

Official Description

1,015 bombers and 477 fighters attack oil and industrial targets in S Germany by visual means; 15 bombers and 8 fighters are lost:



1. 376 B-17s are dispatched to oil refineries at Stuttgart/Sindelfingen (109) and Ludwigshafen (74); secondary targets hit are Darmstadt (95) and Wiesbaden (8); targets of opportunity hit are Mainz (22), a marshaling yard near Wiesbaden (12) and others (3); 4 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 134 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 2 WIA and 37 MIA. Escort is provided by 73 of 74 P-47s, they claim 6-0-2 aircraft on the ground.



2. 342 B-24s are dispatched to hit Schwabish Hall Airfield (65), a munitions dump at Ulm (65) and Weissenhorn (45); a target of opportunity hit is Reichelsheim (1); 4 B-24s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 127 damaged; 3 airman are WIA and 39 MIA. Escort is provided by 99 P-38s and P-51s; they claim 14-0-5 aircraft on the ground; 2 P-51s are lost.



3. 297 B-17s are dispatched to hit oil refineries at Merseburg (141) and Lutzkendorf (77); targets of opportunity hit are Giessen (17), Eisenach (12), Altenburg (7), Gera (7) and other (19); they claim 1-0-0 aircraft; 7 B-17s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 145 damaged; 4 airmen are KIA, 8 WIA and 67 MIA. Escort is provided by 233 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 33-0-4 aircraft in the air; 6 P-51s are lost.



Mission 629: 11 B-24s are dispatched on an Azon mission to the oil refinery at Hemmingstedt (6); 5 hit the secondary target, ammunition dumps at Kropp. Escort is provided by 15 of 15 P-51s without loss. Mission 631: 8 of 8 B-17s drop leaflets on the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.



73 of 74 B-17s, escorted by 63 P-51s, continuing the UK-USSR-Italy-UK shuttle-bombing mission, take off from USSR bases, bomb steel and armament works at Diosgyor, Hungary and proceed to Fifteenth AF bases in Italy.



40 of 48 P-51s fly a strafing mission S of Munich hitting an aircraft dispersal area, airfield and marshaling yard; they claim 5-0-0 aircraft on the ground; 2 P-51s are lost.

Mission Details

Description: BOMB TARGETS OF OPPORTUNITY

Mission Statistics

  • Tonnage Dropped: 46.5 T

Description: BOMB TARGETS OF OPPORTUNITY

Mission Statistics

  • Tonnage Dropped: 9 T

ALTENBURG (Opportunistic)

Description: INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

Mission Statistics

  • Tonnage Dropped: 17 T

DARMSTADT (Secondary)

Description: INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

Mission Statistics

  • Tonnage Dropped: 270.8 T

EISENACH (Opportunistic)

Description: INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

Mission Statistics

  • Tonnage Dropped: 28.4 T

GERA (Opportunistic)

Description: INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

Mission Statistics

  • Tonnage Dropped: 27.5 T

GIESSEN (Opportunistic)

Description: INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

Mission Statistics

  • Tonnage Dropped: 40 T

LUDWIGSHAFEN (Primary)

Description: OIL REFINERY

Mission Statistics

  • Tonnage Dropped: 211.5 T

LUTZKENDORF (Primary)

Description: OIL REFINERY

Mission Statistics

  • Tonnage Dropped: 188.2 T

MAINZ (Opportunistic)

Description: INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

Mission Statistics

  • Tonnage Dropped: 64.8 T

MERSEBURG (Primary)

Description: OIL REFINERY

Notes: 1st Bomb Division was made up of 91st Bomb Group, 92nd BG, 303rd BG, 305th BG, 306th BG, 379th BG, 384th BG, 385th BG,389th BG, 401st BG, 457th BG, 486th BG. 351st Bomb Group & 381st Bomb Group stand down.

Mission Statistics

  • Tonnage Dropped: 334.5 T

Description: BOMB TARGETS OF OPPORTUNITY

Mission Statistics

  • Tonnage Dropped: 3 T

Description: AIRFIELD

Notes: 2nd Bomb Division was made up of 44th BG, 92nd BG, 93rd BG, 385th BG, 389th BG, 445th BG, 446th BG, 453rd Bomb Group 489th BG, 491 BG, 492nd BG. 93rd BG, 458th BG, 466th Bomb Group & 467th Bomb Group stand down.

Mission Statistics

  • Tonnage Dropped: 169.5 T

STUTTGART/SINDELFINGEN (Primary)

Description: OIL REFINERY

Notes: 3rd Bomb Division was made up of B-17s is 44th BG, 94th BG, 95th Bomb Group 96th Bomb Group, 100th BG, 385th BG, 388th BG, 390th BG, 447th BG, 452nd BG, 486th BG, 490th BG, 493rd BG.

Mission Statistics

  • Tonnage Dropped: 296.7 T

ULM (Primary)

Description: MUNITIONS DUMP

Mission Statistics

  • Tonnage Dropped: 161 T

Description: MARSHALLING YARDS

Mission Statistics

  • Tonnage Dropped: 36 T

Description: INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

Mission Statistics

  • Tonnage Dropped: 24 T

WEISSENHORN (Primary)

Description: MUNITIONS DUMP

Mission Statistics

  • Tonnage Dropped: 108.3 T

Connections

See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 615th Bomb Squadron
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 384th Bomb Group 545th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 35146697
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Gunner/Togglier
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 612th Bomb Squadron
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Engineer, Top Turret Gunner, Tail Gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 91st Bomb Group 323rd Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 13075110 / O-759749
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Navigator

Aircraft

Ten men in Air Force uniform posed in front of a military airplane.  Five men standing to the rear, five men kneeling in front.  The men are wearing combat flying gear.  Large canvas bags are laying in front of kneeling men
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Hale's Angels
  • Unit: 547th Bomb Squadron 384th Bomb Group
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Paisano
  • Unit: 95th Bomb Group 96th Bomb Group 335th Bomb Squadron 336th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Little Kenny
  • Unit: 544th Bomb Squadron 384th Bomb Group
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Farmer's Daughter
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 614th Bomb Squadron 615th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: The Thomper
  • Unit: 95th Bomb Group 334th Bomb Squadron

Revisions

Date
ContributorEmily
Changes
Sources

THE ARMY AIR FORCES IN WORLD WAR II: COMBAT CHRONOLOGY, 1941-1945 by Carter / Mueller, the Office of Air Force History.

Date
Contributortimothymotz
Changes
Sources

Timothy Motz; from a mission list kept by Harold Motz, compared with Doyle Shields, "History of the 447th Bomb Group"

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
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'.

628: Gallery (2 items)