26 March 1945

MONDAY, 26 MARCH 1945

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 915: 337 B-17s and 527 P-51s are dispatched to attack oil and tank
plants in Germany; targets are bombed visually despite poor weather; no
aircraft are lost:
1. 185 B-17s are sent to hit the synthetic oil plant at Zeitz (12); 130
others hit the Vomag tank factory at Plauen (130), the secondary; targets of
opportunity are Meiningen (25) and Wurzburg (11); 1 B-17 is damaged beyond
repair and 25 damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 5 WIA. Escorting are 194 of 238
P-51s.
2. 152 B-17s are sent to hit the Vomag tank factory at Plauen (139);
targets of opportunity are Oelsnitz (12) and Markt Erlbach (1); 3 B-17s are
damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged; 18 airmen are KIA. 98 of 121 P-51s
escort.
3. 110 of 118 P-51s fly a freelance fighter mission for the bombers.
4. 26 of 27 P-51s escort 12 F-5s and 1 Spitfire on photo reconnaissance
missions over Germany.
5. 22 of 23 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
HQ 7th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance) and the 22d Photographic
Reconnaissance Squadron move from Mount Farm to Chalgrove, England with F-5s.

TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In Germany, around 300 A-20s, A-26s
and B-26s hit marshalling yards at Wurzburg, Gemunden, and Flieden, the town
of Ruckers, and 2 targets of opportunity; fighters escort the bombers, fly
armed reconnaissance, hit special targets and support various ground forces
along the front; fighter support is accorded the US 2d, 3d, 7th, and 9th
Armored Divisions in the Hachenburg, Montabaur, and Limburg areas, the XII
Corps along the Main River from Frankfurt/Main to Aschaffenburg, and Ninth
Army elements in the bridgehead area around Gahlen. Units moving from Belgium
to Germany: HQ IX Tactical Air Command from Verviers to Bruhl; HQ 48th
Fighter Group and the 492d, 493d and 494th Fighter Squadrons from St Trond to
Kelz with P-47s. The 72d Liaison Squadron, Ninth AF (attached to Sixth Army
Group), moves from Sarreguemines, France to Kaiserlautern, Germany with L-5s.