28 February 1945

WEDNESDAY, 28 FEBRUARY 1945

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

AIRBORNE OPERATIONS (IX Troop Carrier Command): Units moving from England
to France: HQ 313th Troop Carrier Group from Folkingham to Achiet; HQ 314th
Troop Carrier Group and the 32d and 61st Troop Carrier Squadrons from Saltby
to Poix with C-47s.

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 3 missions are flown.
Mission 854: 1,104 bombers and 737 fighters are dispatched to make PFF
attacks on rail targets in Germany; they calim 18-0-11 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1
B-17 and 5 P-51s are lost:
1. 378 B-17s are sent to hit marshalling yards at Soest (143), Hagen (151)
and Schwerte (74) using Gee-H; 1 other hits a target of opportunity; 1 B-17s
is lost; 3 airmen are MIA. 106 of 112 P-51s escort without loss.
2. 346 B-24s are dispatched to hit the Arnsberg (95) and Bielefeld (81)
viaducts, the Siegen marshalling yard (77) and the Henschel tank plant at
Meschede (79); 1 other hits the Neustadt road junction, a target of
opportunity; all attacks are made using Gee-H; no casualties. Escorting are
117 of 123 P-51s; 1 is lost (pilot MIA).
3. 364 of 380 B-17s hit the marshalling yard at Kassel, the secondary
target; 6 others hit 6 targets of opportunity; the attacks are made using H2X
radar; no casualties. The escort is 113 of 118 P-51s; they claim 0-0-1
aircraft in the air and 10-0-4 on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA).
4. 308 of 318 P-51s fly a strafing run in the Wurzburg-Munich area; they
calim 8-0-6 aircraft on the ground; 3 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA).
5. 18 of 20 P-47s fly a figher-bomber mission against Ablar, Offenbach and
Werdorf marshalling yards and factory buildings without loss.
6. 16 P-51s escort 4 F-5s and 1 Spitfire on a photo reconnaissance mission
over Germany.
Mission 855: 11 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany during
the night without loss. 1 Mosquito flies a SKYWAVE mission over Germany.
(SKYWAVE is a special navigational mission to calibrate LORAN equipment.)
Mission 856: 22 of 24 B-24s bomb the Freiburg rail depot during the night
using PFF methods; no losses.
The 36th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 1st Air Division [attached to 482d
Bombardment Group (Heavy)], moves from Cheddington to Alconbury, England with
B-24s (the 36th is engaged in radio countermeasures operations).

TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 340+ A-20s, B-26s and
A-26s bomb rail bridges at Mayen, Niederscheld, and Colbe, the Unna ordnance
depot, Kamp road junction, Siegen and Sankt Wendel marshalling yards, the
town of Rheinburg, and targets of opportunity; fighters escort the bombers,
fly sweeps, patrols and armed reconnaissance, attack special targets, and
support the US 3d Armored Division at the Paffendorf bridgehead, US Ninth
Army elements near Monchen-Gladbach and Neuss [the 2d Armored Division
reaches a point within 6 miles (9.7 km) of the Rhine River], and the VIII,
XII, and XX Corps between the Prum and Kyll Rivers and near Trier.