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The Mighty Eighth - Sunday, 4 March 1945 |
SUNDAY, 4 MARCH 1945 EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO) STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 863: 1,028 bombers and 522 fighters are dispatched to bomb targets in SW Germany; bad weather causes 300+ aborts; 1 B-24 and 1 P-51 are lost: 1. 373 B-17s are sent to hit the jet aircraft plant at Schwabmunchen (69) and military vehicle plant and ordnance depot at Ulm (223); 59 hit the secondary, the marshalling yard at Ulm; targets of opportunity are Reutlingen (12) and other (1); bombing is by Gee-H; 2 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 9 damaged; 3 airmen are WIA. Escorting are 150 of 156 P-51s; 1 is damaged beyond repair. 2. 274 B-24s are dispatched but weather prevents them hitting the primaries; targets of opportunity are Aschaffenburg (18), Tuttlingen (11), Astadtaach (10), Pforzheim (8), the marshalling yard at Stuttgart (11), the railroad at Sonaueschingen (10), Stuttgart (50) and other (36); bombing is by H2X radar with some visual bombing; 1 B-24 is lost and 19 damaged; 8 airmen are KIA. 139 P-47s and P-51s escort without loss. 3. 376 B-17s are dispatched but weather prevents them attacking the primaries; secondary targets hit are the marshalling yards at Ingolstadt (69) and Ulm (75); targets of opportunity are Ausbuch (1) and other (3); H2X radar is used for bombing; 2 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 7 damaged; 17 airmen are KIA. The escort is 172 of 186 P-51s; 1 is lost (pilot MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 4. 5 B-17s fly a scouting mission. 5. 21 of 22 P-51s fly a scouting mission. Mission 864: 1 B-17 and 11 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany during the night without loss. TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In Germany, about 180 B-26s, A-20s, and A-26s strike marshalling yards and a rail junction at Recklinghausen, Lenkerbeck, and Herne, communications centers at Bruhl, Sechtem, and Rheinbach, and several other targets including a rail bridge and towns; weather limits fighter operations; a few fighters fly armed reconnaissance E of the Rhine River and others fly cover for the XX Corps. |