70 years ago - 23 March 1944: Mission 275: 524 B-17s and 244 B-24s are dispatched to attack airfields in Western Germany and aircraft factories in the Brunswick area; due to unfavorable weather conditions, only 68 B-24s hit the primary targets and 639 bombers hit secondary targets and targets of opportunity; 22 B-17s, 6 B-24s and 4 P-51s are lost. 388th Bombardment Group Mission Report - 31 A/C took-off between 0600 and 0651 hours and 4 of these aborted, 2 for mechanical reasons and 2 legal aborts. Formations were effected without difficulty and the briefed course was followed to the target. The formation was about 15 minutes early when it crossed the enemy coast and even earlier when it reached the target. Consequently, no friendly fighter escort was met until the formation was near the IP. During this time, 35 to 45 enemy a/c, mostly FW 190s were encountered. This was between 0955 and 1010 hours between Dummer Lake and Steinbuden Lake. The attacks were vicious. On the first attack, from 9 to 10 oclock high, they dove through the formation to hit the low squadron: 3 of our a/c in the low squadron were lost on this attack, Lts. McFall, Filler and Wilson. One of the enemy a/c collided with a/c #003, knocking off one wing. Both a/c went down and it was a miracle that more planes did not collide during this attack. At least 10 a/c went down during this one attack. Due to cloud coverage in the target area, Brunswick was bombed by PFF methods, on the flares of the PFF a/c of the lead groups in the wing. Bombs were away at 1040 hours from 20,000 feet. Strike photos show that the bombs hit north of the city. The route back was south of the briefed course and the formation flew through the northern defenses of the Ruhr Valley, encountering intense flak, losing 2 a/c. On the route in, meager flak was encountered at Delstorl. Inaccurate flak and some rockets were encountered in the target area. 22 a/c returned to base by 1306 hours. Lt. Davis in a/c 42-548, was hit by flak at the Northern defenses of the Rhur Valley. He left the formation with the engines smoking but under control. Shortly afterwards, the crew bailed out and the plane blew-up. The enlisted men were in Stalag I, Barth, Germany. Lt. Gerstenhaber in a/c 42-38120, was hit by flak in the #3 engine over the Northern tip of the Ruhr Valley. Lt. McFall in a/c 42-31745 Heaven Can Wait, was hit by enemy fighters and shot down near Neinburg. The last man to bail out was the tail-gunner when the plane was a few hundred feet in the air. The enlisted men were in Stalag 17-B and Barth. Lt. Filler in a/c 42-30808, was hit by enemy fighters east of Quakenbruck. With #1 engine on fire, the crew bailed out with one chute failing to open. The POWs were in Stalag I. Lt. Wilson in a/c 42-31103, was attacked by enemy fighters, one of which collided with this aircraft knocking off a wing. This a /c went down in a spin. Three chutes were seen to open, one of which was split.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Mar 2014 13:41:29 +0000
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