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The Mighty Eighth - Sunday, 25 March 1945 |
| SUNDAY, 25 MARCH 1945 EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO) STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 913: 1,009 bombers and 341 fighters are dispatched to hit seven oil plants and a tank factory in Germany; they claim 6-4-13 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 B-24s and 1 P-51 are lost: 1. 272 B-24s are sent to hti the Ehmen (59), Hitzacker (127) and Bucken (57) oil depots; they claim 2-4-9 aircraft; 4 B-24s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 19 damaged; 16 airmen are KIA, 2 WIA and 39 MIA. Escorting are 223 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 4-0-3 aircraft in the air. 2. 737 B-17s are dispatched to hit oil plants but bad weather during the assembly and the increasing possibility of adverse conditions causes the mission to be cancelled; 3 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 9 airmen are KIA. 3. 47 of 48 P-51s escort Ninth AF B-26s. 4. 24 P-51s fly a fighter-bomber mission against the Schmalge ammunition dump; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 5. 11 P-51s fly a scouting mission claiming 0-0-1 aircraft in the air. 6. 16 P-15s escort 8 F-5s and 3 Spitfires on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. Mission 914: 10 B-24s drop leaflets in Germany and the Netherlands during the night. TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In Germany, the 9th Bombardment Division hits 4 communications centers, 3 marshalling yards, and targets of opportunity, including flak positions; fighters fly escort, armed reconnaissance, and missions against several ground targets; fighters support the US 79th Infantry Division as it pushes 2 miles (3.2 km) to the E of the Rhine River (SE of Wesel), the III and VII Corps as they begin their breakout assault toward Altenkirchen and in the Epgert and Willroth areas, and the XII Corps as it establishes bridgeheads on the Main River in the Hanau and Aschaffenburg areas. |