24 February 1945

SATURDAY, 24 FEBRUARY 1945

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 845: 1,114 bombers and 592 fighters are dispatched to hit oil
refineries and rail targets using H2X radar; they claim 1-0-3 Luftwaffe
aircraft on the ground; 2 bombers and 11 fighters are lost:
1. 362 B-17s are sent to hit the Albrecht (278) and Harburg (70) oil
refineries at Hamburg; 6 others hit a target of opportunity; 26 B-17s are
damaged; 2 airmen are WIA. 181 of 195 P-51s escort; 4 are lost (pilots MIA).
2. 280 B-24s are dispatched to hit the Misburg oil refinery (104) and the
marshalling yard at Lehrte (61); 76 hit the secondary target, the marshalling
yard at Bielefeld; targets of opportunity are Hannover (11), Lingen (2) and
other (5); 1 B-24 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 16 damaged; 4 airmen
are KIA, 3 WIA and 12 MIA. Escorting are 166 of 179 P-51s; 5 are lost (pilots
MIA).
3. 383 B-17s are sent to hit the Deschimag U-boat yards at Bremen (200) and
the Bremen W rail bridge (134); targets of opportunity are Minden (12),
Osnabruck (8), Quackenbruck (5) and Brinkum (1); 1 B-17 is lost, 1 damaged
beyond repair and 162 damaged; 7 airmen are WIA and 9 MIA. The escort is 93
of 98 P-51s; they claim 1-0-3 aircraft on the ground; 2 P-51s are lost
(pilots MIA).
4. 70 of 76 B-17s hit the Wesel rail bridge using Micro H; 22 B-17s are
damaged. 29 P-51s escort without loss.
5. 12 of 13 B-17s fly a screening mission.
6. 43 of 46 P-51s fly a freelance mission for the bombers without loss.
7. 28 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
8. 17 P-51s escort 19 F-5s and 4 Spitfires on photo reconnaissance missions
over Germany.
Mission 846: 12 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany during
the night.

TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In Germany, nearly 500 B-26s, A-20s
and A-26s hit 5 communications centers, 2 marshalling yards, 3 rail bridges,
6 town areas, and a target of opportunity as part of interdiction operations
against troops during the Rhineland campaign; fighters support the 8th and
104th Infantry Divisions in the Duren area, the XIII and XIX Corps at the
Roer River bridgehead area, and the VIII, XII, and XX Corps E of and along
the Prum River and in the Saarlautern area.