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25 July 1944
Mission map for 8th Air Force mission #494, July 25, 1944 to St. Lo, from Harold Motz, navigator on the Westrope crew, 708th squadron, 447th bomb group. Note that on this map, the dark line is the route for the mission of the previous day (#492), while the light pencil line is for the mission of July 25. Original map now in the collection of the Museum of the US Air Force, Dayton, Ohio.
Mission list kept by 2nd Lt. Donald Muckerman of the 8th Airforce, 305th Bomb Group, 422nd Squadron (front)
8th Air Force mission 494; St. Lo, France; July 25, 1944. 447th Bomb Group strike photo
The Military Memoirs of Alvan Markle III. The account covers his training and service during the Second World War as commander of an artillery battalion. It includes his recollections of major events such as his landing in Normandy in 1944, Operation Cobra, the Ardennes Campaign and Crossing the Rhine.
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Gen. Bayerlein continued, "The shock effect on the troops was indescribable. Several of my men went mad and rushed round in the open until they were cut down by splinters. Simultaneously with the storm from the air, innumerable guns of American artillery pounded drumfire into our positions." He continued, "over 70 percent of my soldiers were either dead, wounded, crazed or dazed." Because of the friendly-fire casualties, GEN Dwight Eisenhower forbids the use of heavy bombers in a tactical support role for ground troops for the remainder of the war.
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For the second consecutive day the 8th Air Force sent its forces to a tactical target near St. Lo, France.
The 388th Bomb Group put up three Groups of 12 aircraft for the 45th A Combat wing. No aircraft aborted for the second day in a row. Formations were effected and the briefed route was followed to the target. Bombs were away at 1031 hours from 13,000 feet. Strike photos show a very tight pattern covering the target. Bombing was done from 3,000 feet lower than briefed because of clouds.
No enemy fighters were encountered. Flak in the target area was meager and inaccurate. One of our aircraft in the C Group had self inflicted damage caused by the premature exploding of a fragmentation bomb at bombs away. There were no casualties. Brigadier General Kissner, 3rd Air Division Chief of Staff, and members of his staff accompanied personnel on the mission.
Group
The 388th Bomb Group flew strategic bombing mission from Knettishall, Suffolk from June 1943 to the end of the war. During this time, though, detachments were sent to Fersfield, Norfolk to conduct Aphrodite missions. In these Aphrodite missions veteran...
| Tonnage dropped | 1,647.60 |
BOMB TARGETS OF OPPORTUNITY
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483 of 500 Fighters (mix of P-47s, P-38s and P-51s) from 8th AF also participate in the attack with strafing and bombing runs. German Lt. Gen. Fritz Bayerlein, commander of the Panzer Lehr Division commented in his memoirs that," the bombers came as if on a conveyor belt. Back and forth the carpets were laid, artillery positions were wiped out, tanks overturned and buried, infantry positions flattened and all roads and tracks destroyed. By midday the entire area resembled a Mondlandschaft (moonscape), with bomb craters touching rim to rim. All signal communications had been cut and no command was possible."
| Tonnage dropped | 24.6 T |
TROOP CONCENTRATION
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All groups of the 2nd and 3rd Bomb Divisions participate except the 486th Bomb Group and 487th Bomb Group. Continuation of OPERATION COBRA - 11 B-26 and A-20 groups from 9th AF continue to bomb the rectangle adjacent to the Periers/St.Lo Road. 42 B-26s repeat the bombing errors of the pevious day and short-bomb the area again hitting the 30th Infantry Division. 9th AF fighters strafe German troop positions also. While killing many Germans these attacks tended to shroud the bombing zone with smoke and dust, thus, hampering the bombing barrage launched by 8th AF. Some of the 8th Air Force's bomb drops were short also. The result was another tragic friendly-fire incident. 111 American soliders were killed and another 490 were wounded. Among the KIA casualties was Lt. Gen, Leslie J. McNair, who was conduting observation along the front lines. He was the highest ranking officer to be killed in the European theater in WWII. Despite the American losses the ground attack proceeded at exactly 1100 hours and First Army made an 800 yard advance though the bombed out zone.
Division
The groups under the command of the 1st Bomb Wing came under the command of the 1st Bomb Division in August 1943. In December 1944, the Division was redesginated the 1st Air Division.
Division
The groups under the command of the 2nd Bomb Wing came under the command of the 2nd Bomb Division in August 1943. In December 1944, the Division was redesginated the 2nd Air Division.
Division
The 3rd Bomb Division was Constituted in August 1943. In December 1944, the Division was redesginated the 3rd Air Division.
| Tonnage dropped | 1723.1 T |
Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 401st Bomb Group
Assigned to 612BS, 401BG, 8AF USAAF. 20 x combat mission. McCord crew. Munich mission 16-Jul-44, A/C hit by flak causing a failure of the oxygen system to the nose compartment, died of anoxia along with bombardier Irwin Dobrow. Killed in Action (KIA)
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Military | Master Sergeant | Engineer/Top Turret Gunner | 401st Bomb Group
Military | Staff Sergeant (3rd Grade) | Ball Turret Gunner | 390th Bomb Group
Crew Number 68
Military | Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 401st Bomb Group
Assigned to 605BS, 401BG, 8AF USAAF. Damaged by flak and landed in Switzerland on 31-Jul-44 in B-17 42-107092 'Umbriago' Interned (INT)
Awards: WWII Victory, EAME.
Military | Second Lieutenant | Bombardier, Navigator | 401st Bomb Group
Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 401st Bomb Group
Military | Captain | Pilot | 388th Bomb Group
newly assigned May 1944
Military | Captain | Pilot | 95th Bomb Group
Assigned to 334BS, 95BG, 8AF USAAF.
Awards: DFC, AM (3OLC), WWII Victory, EAME.
Military | Staff Sergeant | Gunner | 34th Bomb Group
Assigned to the 34th Bomb Group on 1 April 1944 in Blythe California.
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Military | First Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 447th Bomb Group
Warran Callahan served as a co-pilot with the 708th Bomb Squadron of the 447th Bomb Group, flying bombing missions out of Rattlesden, England.
B-24 Liberator
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 27/2/44; Kearney 15/3/44; Dow Fd 4/4/44; Assigned 614BS/401BG [IW-C] Deenethorpe 16/4/44; Missing in Action Merseburg 24/8/44 with Parker Finney, Co-pilot: Virgil Price, Navigator: Dale Scott, tog-Brown Bralley, Waist gunner: Burton...
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 23/3/44; Kearney 13/4/44; Grenier 15/5/44; Assigned 447BG Rattlesden 16/5/44; transferred 614BS/401BG [IW-J] Deenethorpe 30/5/44; Salvaged 10/1/45.
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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 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 Tulsa 7/3/44; Kearney 22/3/44; Grenier 7/4/44; Assigned 614BS/401BG [IW-B] Deenethorpe 15/4/44; 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)...
B-17 Flying Fortress
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B-17 Flying Fortress
B-17G ser. 42-31081, 'Son of A Blitz':
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 05 June 2015 17:50:10 | Pete | Changes to person associations |
| Sources | ||
452nd Bomb Group Assoc. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 09 March 2015 12:42:49 | general ira snapsorter | Changes to event |
| Sources | ||
Information sent by Dick Read relating to Arthur M. Read and the 388th Bomb Group. (From 'The 388th At War' by Ed Huntzinger). |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 09 March 2015 12:41:18 | general ira snapsorter | Changes to event |
| Sources | ||
Information sent by Dick Read relating to Arthur M. Read and the 388th Bomb Group. (From 'The 388th At War' by Ed Huntzinger). |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:43:07 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| 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'. |
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