21 April 1945

SATURDAY, 21 APRIL 1945

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 963: 532 bombers and 444 fighters attack jet fighter airfields and
rail targets in SE Germany; 2 bombers and 2 fighters are lost:
1. 111 of 113 B-17s hit the marshalling yard at Munich, a target of last
resort, with H2X radar; 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 5 damaged.
Escorting are 90 P-51s; 1 is damaged beyond repair.
2. 186 B-24s are sent to hit the Salzburg marshalling yard and rail bridge
but abort the mission due to 10/10 cloud cover; 1 B-24 is lost and 4 damaged;
1 airman is WIA and 12 MIA. The escort is 99 of 109 P-51s.
3. 6 of 232 B-17s hit the secondary target, the Amlech Airfield at
Landsberg; 212 hit a target of last resort, the town of Ingolstadt; 1 B-17 is
lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged; 8 airmen are KIA and 7 MIA. 144
of 160 P-51s escort; 2 are lost (pilots MIA).
4. 1 B-17 and 23 P-51s fly scouting missions.
5. 48 of 57 P-47s fly a fighter sweep in the Salzburg area.
6. 4 of 5 P-51s escort 3 F-5s on photo reconnaissance missions over
Germany.
Mission 964: During the night of 21/22 Apr, 10 of 11 B-24s drop leaflets in
France, the Netherlands and Germany.

TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): Brigadier General Ralph F Stearley
takes over as Commanding General, IX Fighter Command, and also takes command
of the IX Tactical Air Command. In Germany, 121 bombers hit the Attnang-
Puchheim marshalling yard; fighters fly escort, patrols, armed reconnaissance
and cooperate with the US VIII Corps as elements of the 6th Cavalry Group
cross the Czechoslovakian border to reach Hranice and Trojmezi, the XII Corps
in the Grafenwohr-Weiden area, and the XX Corps E of Nurnberg. Unit moves in
Germany: HQ 36th Fighter Group and 22d and 23d Fighter Squadrons from
Niedermennig to Rothwesen Airfield, Kassel with P-47s; 162d Tactical
Reconnaissance Squadron, XIX Tactical Air Command [attached to 9th
Reconnaissance Group (Provisional)] from Haguenau, France to Wiesbaden with
F-6s; 391st Fighter Squadron, 366th Fighter Group, from Asch, Belgium to
Handorf Airfield, Munster with P-47s.