19 February 1945

MONDAY, 19 FEBRUARY 1945

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

AIRBORNE OPERATIONS (IX Troop Carrier Command): The 76th and 78th Troop
Carrier Squadrons, 435th Troop Carrier Group, move from Welford Park, England
to Bretigny, France with C-47s.

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 835: 1,135 bombers and 560
fighters are dispatched to hit oil, industrial and rail targets in Germany;
they claim 3-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-24 and 7 P-51s are lost:
1. 196 B-17s are sent to hit the marshalling yard at Osnabruck (155); 24
hit the secondary target, the marshalling yard at Munster; 10 hit Haselunne,
a target of opportunity; Micro-H and H2X are used; 1 B-17 is damaged beyond
repair and 21 damaged; 1 airman is WIA. Escorting are 38 of 42 P-51s.
2. 291 B-24s are dispatched to hit military vehicle plants at Meschede (97)
and Jungenthal (86) and the marshalling yard at Siegen (94) using Gee-H; 1
B-24 is lost and 8 damaged; 9 airmen are MIA. 122 P-47s and P-51s escort.
3. 422 B-17s are sent to hit benzol plants at Bochum (99) and Gelsenkirchen
(36), oil refineries at Dortmund (74) and Alm (37) using Micro H and H2X; 162
hit the secondary target, the Munster marshalling yard (162) visually; 1 B-17
is damaged beyond repair and 59 damaged; 1 airman is KIA. 91 of 96 P-51s
escort; 1 is lost (pilot MIA).
4. 131 of 144 B-17s hit the marshalling yard at Rheine with Micro H without
loss. 48 P-51s escort.
5. 68 of 82 B-17s hit the rail bridge at Wesel using Micro H; 25 B-17s are
damaged. 32 of 37 P-51s escort.
6. 163 of 179 P-51s fly a fighter sweep against rail and road targets in
the Hannover-Magdeburg-Brunswick area claiming 2-0-0 aircraft in the air and
1-0-0 on the ground; 5 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA).
7. 27 of 28 P-51s fly a scouting misson; 1 is lost (pilot MIA).

TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In Germany, B-26s, A-26s, and A-20s,
strike the Mechernich prime mover depot, rail bridges at Pracht,
Niederscheld, and Neuwied-Irlich, the Wiesbaden ordnance depot, and 4 targets
of opportunity; fighters escort the bombers, attack railroads and bridges,
fly armed reconnaissance and alerts, and cooperate with the VIII, XII, and XX
Corps E of the Our River, between the Westwall and the Prum River, and in the
Saar-Mosel triangle. The 167th Liaison Squadron, Ninth Air Force (attached to
the Sixth Army Group), is activated at Vittel, France with L-4s and L-5s.