Description

The German rubber industry at Hannover, Germany and the U-Boat shipyards at Hamburg, Germany are the primary focus of this mission. In addition, a German ship convoy and targets of opportunity at Wilhelmshaven and Wesermunde are bombed. The first element of 121 B-17s from: 91BG (20); 303BG (20); 352BG (24); 379BG (19); 381BG (18); and 384BG (20) are despatched to bomb the U-Boat shipyards at Hamburg, Germany. Cloud cover hampers bombing and 379BG and 384BG are unable to bomb. The 303BG lead ship commander of 303BG directs the remaining 15 B-17s in his formation (5 had aborted) to bomb the Neuhof Electric Power Station five miles from Hamburg. 14 bomb the power station, 1 drops its bombs on a boat in the Elbe river. Only 54 of the 121 despatched manage to attack. The bomber gunners claim 5-0-1 of the 20-30 attacking enemy fighters. 2 B-17s from 91BG Failed to Return (FTR) - 4KIA 6POW 10 RTD (Rescued by ASR)

The rubber industry at Hannover, Germany, is attacked by two elements. The first of these is a combined force of 60 B-17s from: 92BG (19); 305BG (20); and 306BG (21) despatched to bomb the Nordhafen rubber plant. 1 B-17 from 306BG and 2 B-17s from 95BG drop on targets of opportunity. 49 others bomb the rubber plant. 6 aircraft Failed to Return (FTR) and one was Damaged Beyond Repair (DBR) - 20KIA 24POW 30RTD (All rescued by ASR). 2LT John C. Morgan, 92BG/326BS is awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions on this mission, Ref. http://www.cmohs.org/recipient-detail/2899/morgan-john-c.php. The bomber gunners in this element claim 18-1-6 of the attacking enemy fighters.

The second element of the Hannover attack is a combined force of 61 B-17s from : 95BG (22); 96BG (18); and 388BG (21) are despatched to bomb the Continental Gummiwerke at Hannover, Germany. 96 of this force were effective on the target. 10 B-17s Failed to Return (FTR) - 34KIA 55POW 2DIC 10RTD (Rescued by ASR). The bomber gunners claim 22-8-22 of the attacking enemy fighters.

The 4BW force assembled for this mission had an additional 61 B-17 from: 100BG (20); 94BG (20); and 385BG (21) that were originally despatched to attack at Hannover, Germnay but cloud cover and smoke from RAF bombing raids the previous night obscured the target so these split off to attack Targets of Opportunity (TO's). 16 unloaded on a Germany ship convoy; 18 bombed the prot facilities at Wilhelmshaven, Germany; and 15 bombed aircraft factories as Wesemunde. 6 B-17s from this element Failted to Return (FTR) - 33KIA 18POW 10RTD (Rescued by ASR).The bomber gunners calim 15-1-7 of the attacking enemy fighters.