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The Mighty Eighth - Sunday, 8 April 1945 |
| SUNDAY, 8 APRIL 1945 EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO) STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 3 missions are flown. Mission 932: 1,173 bombers and 794 fighters attack various targets in Germany; 9 bombers and 1 fighter are lost: 1. 339 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Derben oil depot (31) and Schafstadt Airfield (73); secondary targets hit are the Stendal marshalling yard workshops (73) and the marshalling yard at Halberstadt (218); Derben is hit visually and the others targets visually and with H2X radar; 4 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 55 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 5 WIA and 35 MIA. Escorting are 239 of 252 P-51s. 2. 522 B-17s are dispatched to hit the marshalling yards at Plauen (86), Hof (101) and Eger (111) and an ordnance depot at Grafenwohr (203); the attacks are made visually and with H2X radar; 5 B-17s are lost and 58 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 1 WIA and 43 MIA. 235 of 246 P-51s escort. 3. 302 B-24s are sent to hit the munitions depot at Bayreuth (51), the Blumenthal jet aircraft factory at Furth (89) and the Unterschlauersbach (57) and Roth (91) Airfields visually; 39 B-24s are damaged. The escort is 245 P-47s and P-51s; 1 P-47 is lost (pilot MIA). 4. 10 B-17s fly a screening mission. 5. 28 P-51s fly a scouting mission; 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair. 6. 16 P-51s escort 19 F-5s on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. Mission 933: 11 B-24s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night. Mission 934: 12 B-24s bomb the Travemunde port area using PFF methods during the night. The 13th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 7th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance), moves from Mount Farm to Chalgrove, England with F-5s. TACTICAL OPERATIONS First Tactical Air Force (Provisional): The 367th Fighter Squadron, 358th Fighter Group, moves form Toul, France to Sandhofen, Germany with P-47s. Ninth Air Force: In Germany, around 620 A-20s, A-26s, and B-26s bomb the Munchenbernsdorf oil storage depot, the Sonderhausen communications center, Nienhagen oil refinery, Celle marshalling yard, and 8 city areas; fighters escort the bombers, attack an airfield, fly patrols and armed reconnaissance, and operate in conjunction with the US VIII, XII, and XX Corps in the Thuringer Forest and Erfurt areas. Unit moves in Germany: HQ IX Tactical Air Command from Bruhl to Lahn Airfield, Marburg; HQ 36th Fighter Group and the 22d and 23d Fighter Squadrons from Aachen to Niedermennig with P-47s; HQ 354th Fighter Group and 356th Fighter Squadron from Rosieres-en-Haye, France to Ober Olm with P-51s; HQ 362d Fighter Group and 379th Fighter Squadron from Rouvres, France to Frankfurt with P-47s.. |