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The Mighty Eighth - Monday, 9 April 1945 |
| MONDAY, 9 APRIL 1945 EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO) STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 3 missions are flown. Mission 935: 1,252 bombers and 846 fighters are dispatched to visually attack underground oil storage, an ammunition plant and 10 jet airfields; they claim 85-1-60 Luftwaffe aircraft; 7 bombers and 5 fighters are lost: 1. 333 B-17s are sent to hit a munitons plant at Wolfratshausen (76) and Oberpfaffenhofen (107) and Furstenfeldbruck (139) Airfields; 2 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 12 damaged; 1 airman is WIA. Escorting are 137 of 146 P-51s; they claim 4-0-10 aircraft on the ground. 2. 289 B-17s are sent to attack an oil depot (89) and airfield (66) at Neuburg and Schleissheim Airfield (128); 3 B-17s are lost and 42 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 5 WIA and 56 MIA. The escort is 193 of 203 P-51s; they claim 1-0-3 aircraft in the air and 70-0-37 on the ground; 3 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 3. 228 B-17s are dispatched to hit Riem Airfield at Munich (212); 10 others hit the secondary, the marshalling yard at Ingolstadt; 3 B-17sa re lost. 149 of 151 P-51s escort; they claim 6-0-4 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 4. 402 B-24s are sent to hit airfields at Lechfeld (109), Memmingen (96), Leipheim (88) and Landsberg (62) and Landsberg E landing ground (33); 1 B-24 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 7 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 1 WIA and 9 MIA. 193 of 205 P-51s escort claiming 4-0-5 aircraft on the ground. 5. 58 P-47s fly a freelance mission in support of the bombers. 6. 58 P-51s escort 32 F-5s on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. 7. 24 of 25 P-51s fly scouting missions; 1 is lost (pilot MIA). Mission 936: 10 of 11 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and France during the night. Mission 937: 14 B-24s bomb Stade Airfield during the night using PFF methods; 5 Mosquito's escort the bombers. HQ 361st Fighter Group moves from Chievres, Belgium to Little Walden, England. TACTICAL OPERATIONS First Tactical Air Force (Provisional): The 366th Fighter Squadron, 358th Fighter Group, moves from Toul, France to Sandhofen, Germany with P-47s. Ninth Air Force: In Germany, 700+ A-20s, A-26s and B-26s strike marshalling yards at Jena and Saalfeld, oil targets at Bad Berka and Dedenhausen, ordnance depots at Naumburg and Amberg-Kummersbruck, and several targets of opportunity; fighters escort the bombers, attack several airfields and a fuel storage facility, fly area patrols and armed reconnaissance, and support the III Corps along the Lenne River, the 3d Armored Division E of the Weser River toward Nordhausen, the VIII Corps in the Arnstadt area and the XII and XX Corps in the Thuringer Forest and around Erfurt. Unit moves: HQ 386th Bombardment Group (Medium) and 553d and 555th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium) from Beaumont-sur-Oise, France to St Trond, Belgium iwht B-26s; 107th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group, from Limburg to Eschwege, Germany with F-6s. |