18 March 1945

SUNDAY, 18 MARCH 1945

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 894: 1,329 bombers and 733 fighters are dispatched to hit railway
stations and tanks plants in the Berlin area; the attacks are made both
visually and with H2X radar; the Luftwaffe makes it's most concentrated and
successful attacks with Me 262s to date; the AAF claims 21-1-5 Luftwaffe
aircraft; 13 bombers (8 to flak) and 6 fighters are lost:
1. 421 of 450 B-17s hit the Schlesischer rail station in Berlin; 13 hit
the secondary target, Zehdnuk; and 1 hits Vechta, a target of opportunity;
they claim 6-0-0 aircraft; 5 B-17s are lost, 8 damaged beyond repair and
268 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 18 WIA and 49 MIA. 179 of 199 P-51s escort;
they claim 4-0-2 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost.
2. 495 of 530 B-17s hit the Nord rail station in Berlin; targets of
opportunity are Ludwigslust (3) and other (3); they claim 1-1-1 aircraft; 7
B-17s are lost, 6 damaged beyond repair and 319 damaged; 1 airman is KIA,
12 WIA and 79 MIA. Escorting are 219 of 238 P-51s; they claim 7-0-1
aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost.
3. 347 B-24s are sent to hit the Tegel (225) and Henningsdorf (80) tank
factories in Berlin; targets of opportunity are Oranienburg (9), Uelzen (9)
and other (3); 1 B-24 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 127 damaged; 1
airman is KIA, 1 WIA and 11 MIA. The escort is 254 P-51s; they claim 3-0-1
aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost.
4. 2 B-17s fly a scouting mission.
5. 27 of 30 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
6. 1 of 12 P-51s escort 5 F-5s on photo reconnaissance missions over
Germany.
Mission 895: 10 of 12 B-24s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and
Germany during the night without loss.

TACTICAL OPERATIONS
First Tactical Air Force (Provisional): The 415th Night Fighter Squadron,
64th Fighter Wing, moves from Ochey to St Dizier, France with Beaufighters.
Ninth Air Force: In Germany, 660+ A-20s, A-26s and B-26s hit the
marshalling yards at Wetzlar, Worms, Kreuztal, and Bad Durkheim, a
communications center at Bad Durkheim, and 4 town areas with the aim of
hampering enemy movement; fighters escort the bombers, attack assigned
targets, fly patrols, and armed reconnaissance, and cooperate with the US III
Corps at Remagen, with the XII Corps as it begins an assault towards the
Mainz-Worms sector of the Rhine River, and with the XX Corps as it moves
rapidly eastward through the Sankt Wendel area toward Kaiserslautern. HQ 70th
Fighter Wing moves from Verviers, Belgium to Bruhl, Germany.