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The Mighty Eighth - Tuesday, 20 February, 1945 |
TUESDAY, 20 FEBRUARY 1945 EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO) AIRBORNE OPERATIONS (IX Troop Carrier Command): HQ 53d Troop Carrier Wing moves from Greenham Common, England to Voisenon, France. STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 3 missions are flown. Mission 836: 1,264 bombers and 726 fighters are dispatched to hit the main station and marshalling yard at Nurnberg, Germany; the target is bombed visually and using H2X radar; they claim 49-1-21 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 B-17s and 7 fighters are lost: 1. 360 B-24s dispatched abandon the mission over Belgium due to weather conditions; one B-24 hits Steig, a target of opportunity; 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair; 3 airmen are KIA and 2 WIA. Escorting are 123 of 141 P-51s; they claim 2-0-0 aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 2. 831 of 904 B-17s hit the primary target; targets of opportunity are Schiltach (16) and other (12); 5 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 241 damaged; 9 airmen are KIA, 10 WIA and 47 MIA. The escort is 315 of 337 P-51s; they claim 8-0-2 aircraft on the ground; 5 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 3. 194 P-47s and P-51s strafe rail and road targets in the Nurnberg and Straubing areas; they claim 12-0-1 aircraft in the air and 35-1-20 on the ground; 7 fighters are lost (pilots MIA). 4. 28 of 29 P-51s fly a scouting mission without loss. 5. 10 P-51s escort photo reconnaissance aircraft over Germany. Mission 837: 10 of 11 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany during the night without loss. Mission 838: During the night of 20/21 Feb, 30 B-24s attack the Neustadt marshalling yard without loss and 6 of 7 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions. TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): The IX Engineer Command is relieved of its assignment to the Ninth AF and assigned to US Strategic Air Forces in Europe (USSTAF). (After V-E the command will revert to control of the Ninth.) Weather grounds the 9th Bombardment Division; in Germany, fighters fly armed reconnaissance E and W of the Rhine River, attack a bridge and defended area, and support the US VIII, XII, and XX Corps in the Lichtenborn area, W of the Prum River, and in the Saar-Mosel triangle. |