DOCUMENT 53813

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401st Bomb Group, Mission No. 200, 28 Jan 1945, Cologne, Germany. Briefing took place at 0500 hours, and all operational aircraft were airborne by 0912 hours. Two spares landed early, and two other ships aborted, one with No. 1 propeller feathered and full bomb load aboard. All aircraft had returned by 1521 hours. On this, the 200th mission flown by the 401st, the Group put up three squadrons comprising the 94th Combat Wing "B" Group. Because of cloud cover, bombing was by PFF (radar), but breaks in the clouds permitted visual assists. Results were good, with hits seen directly in and around the marshaling yards. No enemy fighters were seen, but accurate flak was encountered over Cologne. As a result, two aircraft received major battle damage and twelve others minor damage. However, no crewmen were wounded. A big party was held at the base to celebrate completing 200 missions. The guests included Lt. General James Doolittle, Commander of the 8th Air Force, and Brig. General Howard Turner, Commander of the 94th Combat Wing and other high ranking Air Force officers.

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Aircraft

Factory fresh B-17s
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Cover Girl
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 614th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Betty J.
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron
Ground personnel of the 401st Bomb Group stand with a B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 42-31662) nicknamed "Fancy Nancy IV" after fixing her engines. Handwritten caption on reverse: 'Another famous Fort and her crew.'
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Fancy Nancy IV
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 612th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Morning Star, Tail End Charlie
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron 615th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: The Shape
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 612th Bomb Squadron

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Date:
Contributoracbernstein1
ChangesCreated entry with caption, unit associations, place associations, aircraft associations and mission associations