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401st Bomb Group, Mission No. 211, 21 Feb 1945, Nurnberg, Germany.
Group briefing took place at 0345 hours. Pilots were warned of obstructions and briefed on controlled take off procedures.
All operational aircraft were airborne by 0751 hours. As there were no aborts, the four spares returned early as planned. All aircraft had returned safely from the mission by 1630 hours, Flying Control noting: "Good landings. Perhaps our 'magnesium flare weather' is over."
The entire 8th Air Force once again concentrated on the strategic railroad marshalling yards at Nurnburg, Germany, a facility critical to German efforts to halt the advance of the Russian Army. In all, 1,219 four engine bombers attacked the target, dropping nearly 3,000 tons of high explosives. While 362 aircraft sustained battle damage, not one was lost on this mission.
The 401st again put up three squadrons comprising the 94th Combat Wing "B" Group. Heavy cloud cover again made it necessary to utilize PFF (radar) bombing technique. While no visual observations were possible, the concentration of smoke markers and plotting of the PFF scope photographs indicated that a good bombing run was accomplished.
No enemy aircraft appeared but flak, described as "meager and accurate", was encountered over Frankfurt and over the target area. Seven 401st ships sustained minor battle damage.
Group
The 401st Bomb Group flew B-17 Flying Fortresses from Deenethorpe, Northamptonshire, from November 1943 to June 1945. Starting their missions at that time meant the focus was very much on the coming invasion attempt of France planned for the following...
Squadron
Squadron
Squadron
Squadron
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 27/2/44; Hunter 22/3/44; Grenier 2/4/44; Assigned 612BS/401BG [SC-R] Deenethorpe 16/4/44; 111m, Returned to the USA Bradley 8/6/45; 4168 Base Unit, South Plains, Texas 12/6/45; Reconstruction Finance Corporation (sold for scrap metal...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 29/2/44; Gr Island 22/3/44; Grenier 20/4/44; Assigned 612BS/401BG [SC-H] Deenethorpe 13/5/44; Returned to the USA Bradley 6/6/45; 4168 Base Unit, South Plains, Texas 8/6/45; Reconstruction Finance Corporation (sold for scrap metal in...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 5/3/44; Hunter 7/4/44; Dow Fd 29/4/44; Assigned 615BS/401BG [IY-C] Deenethorpe 3/5/44; 614BS [IW-S]; 106m, Returned to the USA Bradley 7/6/45; 4168 Base Unit, South Plains, Texas 14/6/45; Reconstruction Finance Corporation (sold for...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 21/4/44; Kearney 2/5/44; Grenier 26/5/44; Assigned 613BS/401BG [IN-S] 27/5/44; Returned to the USA Bradley 8/6/45; 4168 Base Unit, South Plains, Texas 12/6/45; Reconstruction Finance Corporation (sold for scrap metal in USA) Kingman...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Denver 19/1/44; Dalhart 4/2/44; Presque 23/3/44; Assigned 612BS/401BG [SC-D] Deenethorpe 16/4/44; force landed continent 19/4/45; Sal; Returned to the USA Bradley 11/7/45; 4185 BU Independence 12/7/45; Reconstruction Finance Corporation (sold...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Tulsa 3/2/44; Grenier 27/2/44; Assigned 612BS/401BG [SC-M] Deenethorpe 23/3/44; Returned to the USA Bradley 7/6/45; 4168 Base Unit, South Plains, Texas 13/6/45; Reconstruction Finance Corporation (sold for scrap metal in USA) Kingman 28/11/45...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Tulsa 24/2/44; Gr Island 7/3/44; Grenier 5/4/44; Assigned 615BS/401BG [IY-J] Deenethorpe 2/5/44; 612BS [SC-O]; Returned to the USA Bradley 6/6/45; 4168 Base Unit, South Plains, Texas 21/10/45; Reconstruction Finance Corporation (sold for...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 26/11/43; Wendover 9/12/43; Grenier 20/1/44; Assigned 457BG Glatton 25/1/44; transferred 613BS/401BG [IN-J] Deenethorpe 11/3/44; Missing in Action Pas de Calais 19/3/44, force landed continent; Salvaged 1 SAD Troston 22/4/44; mission...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Denver 2/12/43; Kearney 17/12/43; Romulus 6/1/44; Kearney 7/1/44; Memphis 9/1/44; Presque Is 10/1/44; Assigned 612BS/401BG [SC-B] Deenethorpe 31/1/44; 134m crash landed Polebrook 22/4/44, Salvaged 1 SAD Troston. FANCY NANCY IV.
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 10/12/43; Kearney 27/12/43; RAF Nutts Corner 15/1/44; Assigned 615BS/401BG [IY-B] Deenethorpe 31/1/44; 613BS [IN-O]; 112m, Returned to the USA 121 BU Bradley 7/6/45; 4168 Base Unit, South Plains, Texas 9/6/45; 4100 BU Patterson 9/10...
21 February 1945
Military site : airfield
Deenethorpe was a base purpose-built for American heavy bombers, with the Class A regulation 2,000 and 1,400-yard runways. All the buildings on site,such as the accommodation and administrative blocks, were temporary. In December 1943, several local...
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 01 December 2021 21:09:47 | acbernstein1 | Changes to aircraft associations |
| Sources | ||
http://401bg.org/Main/History/Missions/Details.aspx?Number=211 |
||
| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 01 December 2021 20:05:10 | acbernstein1 | Created entry with caption, unit associations, place associations, aircraft associations and mission associations |
| Sources | ||
http://401bg.org/Main/History/Missions/Details.aspx?Number=211 |
||
