January 1945

The Mighty Eighth - Friday, 23 February, 1945

FRIDAY, 23 FEBRUARY 1945

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 843: As a follow-up to the yesterday's attacks on transportation
facilities as part of Operation CLARION, 1,274 bombers and 705 fighters are
dispatched to hit marshalling yards in Germany; they claim 15-0-16 Luftwaffe
aircraft; 1 B-24 and 6 P-51s are lost:
1. 446 B-17s are dispatched to hit marshalling yards at Treuchtlingen (61),
Crailsheim (52), Neumarkt (74), Ansbach (109) and Kitzingen (95); targets of
opportunity are Nordlingen (2), Schwabisch Hall (24), Winterhausen (7) and
other (2); 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 34 damaged; 1 airman is WIA.
Escorting are 194 of 203 P-51s; they claim 5-0-2 aircraft on the ground;
2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA).
2. 460 B-17s are sent to hit the marshalling yard at Plauen (110); targets
of opportunity are Meiningen (49), Adelsberg (12), Hildburghausen (12),
Kitzingen (88), Lichtenfels (13), Schweinfurt (12), Ellingen (25), Ottingen
(48), Wurzburg (37), Crailsheim (38), and Zwolle (1); 1 B-17 is damaged
beyond repair and 16 damaged; 3 airmen are WIA. 193 of 208 P-51s escort and
claim 1-0-0 aircraft in the air; 3 P-51s are lost; 1 pilot is KIA and 3 MIA.
3. 368 B-24s are dispatched to hit marshalling yards at Weimar (57), Fulda
(10) and Gera (46); targets of opportunity are Paderborn (104), Osnabruck
(50), Jena (25), Schluchtern (20), Fritzlar (9), Reichenbach (9), Steinau
(9), and other (1); 1 B-24 is lost, 4 damaged beyond repair and 6 damaged; 21
airmen are KIA and 4 WIA. The escort is 105 of 110 P-51s.
4. 141 P-47s and P-51s make a sweep of Neuburg, Landsberg and Leipheim
Airfields claiming 9-0-14 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA).
5. 4 P-51s escort 10 F-5s on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany.
6. 30 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
Mission 844: 24 of 27 B-24s make a PFF attack on the Neuss marshalling yard
during the night without loss.

TACTICAL OPERATIONS
First Tactical Air Force (Provisional): The 527th Fighter Squadron, 86th
Fighter Group moves from Pisa, Italy to Tantonville, France with P-47s.
Ninth Air Force: The 9th Bombardment Division hits communications centers
E of the Roer River as the US Ninth Army crosses the river and begins an
assault (Operation GRENADE) toward the Rhine River; fighters fly armed
reconnaissance, patrols, and alerts and support the US 104th and 8th Infantry
Divisions near Duren, Germany, the XIII and XIX Corps' attack across the Roer
at Linnich and Rurdorf, Germany, and the VIII, XII, and XX Corps at the Prum
River, E of the Our River, and E of the Saar River.