VIII Bomber Command 151
11 December 1943![Personnel of the 94th Bomb Group at a mission briefing. A censor has obscured the maps and charts in the background. Image stamped on reverse: 'Associated Press'[stamp],'Passed for publication 14 December 1943.'[stamp] '296691.'[Censor no] Printed caption on reverse: 'Operations Room at US Air Base. Preparing for take off. Associated Press photo shows: Col.F. W. Castle, Group Commanding Officer, gives the massed crews of the base the last part of the briefing, and a personal 'Godspeed' and 'Good Luck' in](https://assets.americanairmuseum.com/s3fs-public/styles/wysiwyg_x2/public/freeman/media-408449.jpg.webp?itok=50qerbDR)
A censor has obscured the maps and charts in the background. Image stamped on reverse: 'Associated Press'[stamp],'Passed for publication 14 December 1943.'[stamp] '296691.'[Censor no]
Printed caption on reverse: 'Operations Room at US Air Base. Preparing for take off. Associated Press photo shows: Col.F. W. Castle, Group Commanding Officer, gives the massed crews of the base the last part of the briefing, and a personal 'Godspeed' and 'Good Luck' in the briefing room before the start of the raid. Map that is covered in background has route map for raid but was covered for picture.' Roger Freeman Collection
Amended caption and mission associations as per description in Freeman, Mighty Eighth War Diary, p 149
Object Number - FRE 3826 - Colonel Fred Castle delivers a briefing to personnel of the 94th Bomb Group, December 1943. A censor has obscured the maps and charts in the...
Description
This mission is a massive raid of 583 heavy bombers on the industrial areas of Emden, Germany. The first element is a combined force of 242 B-17s from 1st Bomb Division that included: 91BG (24); 92BG (18); 303BG (20); 305BG (21); 306BG (20); 351BG (40); 379BG (21); 381BG (28); 384BG (24) and 401BG (22). 219 aircraft are effective on the target. 1 aircraft from 306BG Failed to Return (FTR) 10POW. 88 aircraft are damaged. 1 airman in a returing aircaft is Wounded in Action (WIA). One of the damaged aircraft from 401BG only returned with the Pilot and Co-Pilot, 6KIA aboard 2 baled out and were captured as POW. The bomber gunners claim 2-0-0 of attacking German aircraft.
The second element was a combined force of 93 B-24s from 2nd Bomb Division that included: 44BG (26); 93GBG (24); 389BG (22); 392BG (21). 86 aircraft are effective on the target. 2 aircraft Failed to Return (FTR) 17KIA 3POW. 9 airmen in returning aircraft are Wounded in Action (WIA); 18 aircraft are damaged. The bomber gunners of this element claim 24-3-1 of attacking German aircraft.
The third element is a combined force of 252 B-17 from 1st Bomb Division that included: 94BG (41); 95BG (40); 96BG (44); 100BG (22); 385BG (22); 388BG (42); and 390BG (41). All Groups except 100BG and 385BG have been built up as double-strength units. The 252 dispatched indicate that this was a "maximum effort" mission for 1st Bomb Division. 281 aircraft are effective on the target. Losses are high as 15 aircraft Failed to Return (FTR)71KIA 71POW. 1 aircraft returning to base with battle damage only had 6 on-board (5 OJ 1KIA), 4 had baled out and were captured as Prisoners of War (POW). 32 aircraft were damage. The bomber gunners of this element claim 60-19-22 of attacking German aircraft.
Mission Details
Emden, Germany
Description: INDUSTRIAL AREA
Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
Mission Statistics
- Tonnage Dropped: 586.42
- People killed in action: 73
- People wounded in action: 10
- Prisoners of war: 75
- People returned to duty: 5
- Enemy aircrafts destroyed by bomber: 60
- Enemy aircrafts probably destroyed by bomber: 19
- Enemy aircraft damaged by bomber: 22
- Aircraft sent: 252
- Aircraft effective: 218
- Aircraft missing in action: 14
- Aircraft damaged beyond repair: 1
- Aircraft damaged: 32
Description: INDUSTRIAL AREA
Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
Mission Statistics
- Tonnage Dropped: 589.14
- People killed in action: 6
- People wounded in action: 1
- Prisoners of war: 12
- People returned to duty: 2
- Enemy aircrafts destroyed by bomber: 3
- Aircraft sent: 238
- Aircraft effective: 219
- Aircraft missing in action: 1
- Aircraft damaged beyond repair: 1
- Aircraft damaged: 88
Description: INDUSTRIAL AREA
Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
Notes: One B-24 is damaged by a cable being trailed into the formation by an FW 190.
Mission Statistics
- Tonnage Dropped: 231.34
- People killed in action: 17
- People wounded in action: 9
- Prisoners of war: 3
- Enemy aircrafts destroyed by bomber: 24
- Enemy aircrafts probably destroyed by bomber: 3
- Enemy aircraft damaged by bomber: 1
- Aircraft sent: 93
- Aircraft effective: 86
- Aircraft missing in action: 2
- Aircraft damaged: 18
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: 381st Bomb Group 533rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-733664
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 91st Bomb Group 323rd Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 305th Bomb Group 365th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 33 350 953
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Airplane Armorer / Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 44th Bomb Group 506th Bomb Squadron 67th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 17034081
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 351st Bomb Group 509th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 38228914
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Unit: 305th Bomb Group 546th Bomb Squadron 384th Bomb Group
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Devil's Daughter ll
- Unit: 95th Bomb Group 336th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Spook Six
- Unit: 384th Bomb Group 457th Bomb Group 95th Bomb Group 335th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Betty J.
- Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Billie Del
- Unit: 384th Bomb Group 547th Bomb Squadron
Revisions
Trying to correct map from the present map of South Africa to Emden Germany
Trying to correct map from the present map of South Africa to Emden Germany
Lee Cunningham 23-Jun-2015. Added bomber gunner claims on enemy aircraft to 2nd Bomb Division statistics per "The Mighty Eighth War Diary", Roger A. Freeman.
Lee Cunningham 23-Jun-2015. Added bomber gunner claims on enemy aircraft to 1st Bomb Division statistics per "The Mighty Eighth War Diary", Roger A. Freeman.
Lee Cunningham 23-Jun-2015. Added bomber gunner claims on enemy aircraft to 3rd Bomb Division statistics per "The Mighty Eighth War Diary", Roger A. Freeman.
Lee Cunningham 23-Jun-2015. Added Mission Narrative based on "The Mighty Eighth War Diary", Roger A. Freeman.
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'.