11 March 1945

SUNDAY, 11 MARCH 1945

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 881: 1,256 bombers and 814 fighters are dispatched to make H2X
radar attacks on U-boat yards at Kiel and Bremen and the shipyard and
refinery area at Hamburg, Germany; 1 B-17 and 4 P-51s are lost:
1. 344 of 352 B-24s attack the Krupp Germania U-boat yard at Kiel; 2
B-24s are damaged. 232 P-47s and P-51s escort; 1 P-51 is lost.
2. 469 of 485 B-17s hit the Wilhelmsburg oil refinery at Hamburg; 1 other
hits a target of opportunity; 1 B-17 is lost and 41 damaged; 3 airmen are
WIA and 10 MIA. Escorting are 252 of 265 P-51s; 2 are lost.
3. 406 of 413 B-17s hit the Deschimag U-boat yard at Bremen; 9 B-17s are
damaged. 237 of 255 P-51s escort; 1 is lost.
4. 6 B-17s fly a screening mission.
5. 18 P-51s escort 6 F-5s and a Spitfire on photo reconnaissance missions
over Germany.
6. 27 of 29 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
Mission 882: 11 of 12 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany
during the night without loss.

TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 696 A-20s, A-26s, and
B-26s, hit 4 airfields, 3 communications centers, 2 ammunition filling
plants, and several city areas and other casual targets; these attacks are to
obstruct air operations and supply and troop movements in general; fighters
fly patrols and armed reconnaissance, escort the bombers, support the US 9th
Infantry Division push at the Remagen bridgehead and fly cover over the area,
and support the XX Corps E of Trier and Saarburg. HQ 363d Tactical
Reconnaissance Group and the 160th and 161st Tactical Reconnaissance
Squadrons (with F-6s) and HQ 373d Fighter Group move from Le Culot, Belgium
to Venlo, the Netherlands; the 72d Liaison Squadron, Ninth AF (attached to
Sixth Army Group), moves from Epinal to Buhl, France with L-5s.