January 1945

The Mighty Eighth - Saturday, 24 March 1945

SATURDAY, 24 MARCH 1945

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

AIRBORNE OPERATIONS (IX Troop Carrier Command): 2,000+ transports and
gliders drop and land the British 6 Airborne and US 17th Airborne Divisions
(plus artillery, vehicles, ammunition, and other supplies) E of the Rhine
River N and NW of Wesel as the British Second and US Ninth Armies cross the
river to the NW and SE.

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 911: In conjunction with the allied ground forces assault across
the lower Rhine River (Operation VARSITY) the Eighth flies bombing, supply,
and armed reconnaissance missions; during the day, 1,749 bomber sorties and
1,375 fighter sorties are flown to attack airfields visually in W and NW
Germany in the morning and afternoon and drop supplies to US and British
troops at midday; they claim 54-0-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; 19 bombers and 9
fighters are lost;
1. 175 of 179 B-17s bomb Vechta Airfield in the morning; 1 hits Rheine
Airfield, a target of opportunity; 1 B-17 is lost; 1 airman is WIA and 9 MIA.
2. 527 B-17s are sent to hit Steenwijk (114), Zwischenahn (74), Varel
(88), Varrelbusch (113) and Plantlunne (13) Airfields in the morning; targets
of opportunity are Wittmundhafen Airfield (13) and other (2); 1 B-17 is lost
and 2 damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 9 MIA.
3. 294 B-17s are dispatched to hit Rheine (36), Hopsten (62), Vechtel at
Furstenau (72), Achmer (73) and Hesepe (36) Airfields in the morning; 1 other
hits a target of opportunity; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft; 3 B-17s are lost, 1
damaged beyond repair and 100 damaged; 8 airmen are KIA, 5 WIA and 28 MIA.
4. All 58 B-24s hit Nordhorn Airfield without loss.
5. The 4 forces above have 1,158 P-47s and P-51s flying area support; they
claim 53-0-2 aircraft in the air and 0-0-4 on the ground; 9 P-51s are lost (8
pilots MIA).
6. At midday, 240 B-24s are sent to drop supplies in the US (122) and
British (118) assault areas flying at 300 to 400-feet (91 to 122 m); 14
B-24s are lost (mostly to small arms fire), 4 damaged beyond repair and 103
damaged; 5 airmen are KIA, 30 WIA and 116 MIA.
7. 182 B-24s are sent to hit Stormede (96) and Kirtorf (65) Airfields in
the afternoon; 9 hit Ziegenhain Airfield, the secondary, and 11 hit the
Treysa marshalling yard, a target of opportunity; 16 B-24s are damaged.
8. 114 B-17s are sent to hit Ziegenhain Airfield (104) in the afternoon; 6
others hit Siegen marshalling yard, the secondary; 2 B-17s are damaged.
9. 152 of 153 B-17s hit Enschede Airfield at Twente; 20 B-17s are damaged.
10. The 3 forces above are escorted by 95 P-47s and P-51s without loss.
11. 2 B-17s and 19 of 20 P-51s fly scouting missions; 1 P-51 is lost
12. 8 P-51s escort 4 Mosquitos that monitor operations for the bombers.
13. 17 P-51s escort 19 aircraft on photo reconnaissance missions over
Germany.
Mission 912: 10 of 12 B-24s drop leaflets in Germany and the Netherlands
during the night and 24 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions over Scandinavia.
The 859th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 492d Bombardment Group (Heavy)
[attached to the 2641st Special Group (Provisional)] moves from Brindisi to
Rosignano, Italy with B-24s and C-47s (the squadron is flying CARPETBAGGER
missions in the MTO).

TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In Germany, almost 700 A-20s, A-26s,
and B-26s blast communications centers, rail bridges, flak positions, and
numerous other targets in cooperation with the combined land-airborne assault
across the Rhine River (Operation PLUNDER-VARSITY) by the British Second and
US Ninth Armies and the US XVIII Corps of the First Allied Airborne Army;
fighters attack with the bombers before the drop and carpet the landing zones
with fragmentation bombs, immobilizing numerous flak batteries; fighters
escort bombers and transports, cover the assaulting 30th and 79th Infantry
Divisions, attack troop concentrations, flak positions, supply and ammunition
dumps, airfields, defended villages, and road and rail traffic, and patrol
the perimeter of the battle sector; fighters also support US First Army
elements across the Rhine E of Remagen between Koblenz and the Sieg River as
they prepare for the breakout assault, and the US Third Army's XII Corps as
it strengthens its Rhine bridgehead E of Oppenheim and commits its armor to
push through toward the Main River. HQ 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group and
the 30th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron and 109th Tactical
Reconnaissance Squadron move from Gosselies, Belgium to Vogelsang, Germany
with F-5s and F-6s.