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The Mighty Eighth - Monday, 26 March 1945 |
| MONDAY, 26 MARCH 1945 EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO) STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 915: 337 B-17s and 527 P-51s are dispatched to attack oil and tank plants in Germany; targets are bombed visually despite poor weather; no aircraft are lost: 1. 185 B-17s are sent to hit the synthetic oil plant at Zeitz (12); 130 others hit the Vomag tank factory at Plauen (130), the secondary; targets of opportunity are Meiningen (25) and Wurzburg (11); 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 25 damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 5 WIA. Escorting are 194 of 238 P-51s. 2. 152 B-17s are sent to hit the Vomag tank factory at Plauen (139); targets of opportunity are Oelsnitz (12) and Markt Erlbach (1); 3 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged; 18 airmen are KIA. 98 of 121 P-51s escort. 3. 110 of 118 P-51s fly a freelance fighter mission for the bombers. 4. 26 of 27 P-51s escort 12 F-5s and 1 Spitfire on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. 5. 22 of 23 P-51s fly a scouting mission. HQ 7th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance) and the 22d Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron move from Mount Farm to Chalgrove, England with F-5s. TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In Germany, around 300 A-20s, A-26s and B-26s hit marshalling yards at Wurzburg, Gemunden, and Flieden, the town of Ruckers, and 2 targets of opportunity; fighters escort the bombers, fly armed reconnaissance, hit special targets and support various ground forces along the front; fighter support is accorded the US 2d, 3d, 7th, and 9th Armored Divisions in the Hachenburg, Montabaur, and Limburg areas, the XII Corps along the Main River from Frankfurt/Main to Aschaffenburg, and Ninth Army elements in the bridgehead area around Gahlen. Units moving from Belgium to Germany: HQ IX Tactical Air Command from Verviers to Bruhl; HQ 48th Fighter Group and the 492d, 493d and 494th Fighter Squadrons from St Trond to Kelz with P-47s. The 72d Liaison Squadron, Ninth AF (attached to Sixth Army Group), moves from Sarreguemines, France to Kaiserlautern, Germany with L-5s. |