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The Mighty Eighth - Friday, 30 March 1945 |
| FRIDAY, 30 MARCH 1945 EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO) AIRBORNE OPERATIONS (IX Troop Carrier Command): HQ 349th Troop Carrier Group and the 312th Troop Carrier Squadron arrive at Barkston, England from the US with C-46s. STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 918: 1,402 bombers and 899 fighters are dispatched to attack targets connected with U-boat construction or operation; they claim 8-1-12 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 bombers and 4 fighters are lost: 1. 530 B-17s are sent to hit 2 U-boat yards (64) and an oil depot (169) at Hamburg; 263 bomb the port area at Hamburg, the secondary target; 1 hits Bremen, a target of opportunity; bombing is both visual and using H2X radar; they claim 0-1-3 aircraft; 3 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 252 damaged; 14 airmen are KIA, 10 WIA and 28 MIA. Escorting are 289 of 304 P-51s; they claim 4-0-7 aircraft in the air and 1-0-1 on the ground; 3 P-51s are lost. 2. 448 B-17s are sent to hit the U-boat yard (318) and rail bridge (109) at Bremen visually and with H2X; 1 B-17 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 225 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 6 WIA and 11 MIA. The escort is 268 of 287 P-51s; they claim 2-0-1 aircraft. 3. 382 B-24s are dispatched to hit the U-boat yard (273) and Bauhaben port area (85) at Wilhelmshafen both visually and with H2X; 1 B-24 is lost and 56 damaged; 8 airmen are KIA and 1 WIA. 105 P-47s and P-51s escort. 4. 32 of 36 B-17s fly a DISNEY mission to the U-boat yard at Farge; 14 B-17s are damaged. 5. 6 B-17s fly screening missions. 6. 153 of 159 P-51s fly a freelance mission for the bombers; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft. 7. 11 P-51s escort 5 F-5s on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. 8. 26 of 31 P-51s fly scouting missions. Mission 919: During the night, 13 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany; 19 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions to Norway; 1 B-24 is lost and 1 crashes in the Orkney Islands. TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 337 A-20s, A-26s and B-26s attack the Bad Oeynhausen tank factory, the Munden ordnance depot, the Ebenhausen oil depot, 2 town areas and 6 targets of opportunity, and drop leaflets; fighters escort the bombers, fly patrols and armed reconnaissance, and support ground forces; fighter support is provided for the US 3d and 7th Armored Divisions near Paderborn and at the Edersee dam on the Eder River, the XII Corps N of Frankfurt/Main, the XX Corps in the Hersfeld and Hanau areas, and the XVI Corps in the Marl-Polsum area. Units moving: HQ 322d Bombardment Group (Medium) and the 449th and 452d Bombardment Squadrons (Medium) from Tille Airfield, Beauvais, France to Le Culot, Belgium with B-26s; HQ 404th Fighter Group and the 506th Fighter Squadron from St Trond, Belgium to Keltz, Germany with P-47s; the 153d Liaison Squadron, IX Tactical Air Command (attached to Twelfth Army Group), from Euskirchen to Bad Godesberg, Germany; the 428th, 429th and 430th Fighter Squadrons, 474th Fighter Group, from Florennes, Belgium to Strassfeld, Germany with P-38s. |