8 March1945

THURSDAY, 8 MARCH 1945

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 3 missions are flown.
Mission 872: 1,353 bombers and 326 fighters are dispatched to hit benzol
plants, an oil plant and rail targets in Germany using PFF; NO AIRCRAFT ARE
LOST AND THERE ARE NO CASUALTIES!
1. 360 B-24s are sent to hit marshalling yards at Betzdorf (70), Siegen
(114) and Dillenburg (73); targets of opportunity are Limburg (10) and
Frankfurt (10); bombing is by H2X radar; 3 B-24s are damaged. Escorting are
99 of 102 P-51s.
2. 526 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Robert Muser (99) and Bruchstrasse
(63) benzol plants at Langendreer, the Gneisenau benzol plant at Dortmund
(110) and Heddernheim chemical factory at Frankfurt (122); secondary targets
are the marshalling yards at Giessen (69) and Frankfurt (18); 13 others hit
Wetzlar, a target of opportunity; bombing is with H2X radar; 26 B-17s are
damaged. The escort is 95 of 99 P-51s.
3. 458 B-17s are sent to hit the Emil benzol plant at Essen (114), the
Mathies Stinnes benzol plant at Bottrop (37), the August Viktoria benzol
plant at Huls (111) and the synthetic oil plant at Buer Scholren (75); 109
hit the marshalling yard at Essen, a target of opportunity; bombing is by
Micro-H; 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair. 93 of 98 P-51s escort.
4. 9 B-17s fly a screening mission.
5. 27 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
Mission 873: 11 B-24s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany
during the night without loss.
Mission 874: 15 B-24s attack the marshalling yard at Dortmund during the
night without loss and 4 of 7 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions.

TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): 328 B-26s, A-20s and A-26s hit 7
communications centers, 2 marshalling yards, a road overpass, and a military
transport depot in the furtherance of the interdiction program; weather
prevents fighter operations except for a small alert mission by the XXIX
Tactical Air Command (Provisional). Operational HQ of the XXIX Tactical Air
Command (Provisional), HQ 84th Fighter Wing and HQ 303d Fighter Wing move
from Maastricht, the Netherlands to Monchen-Gladbach, Germany; the
detachments of the 39th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 10th
Photographic Group (Reconnaissance) operating from Gosselies and Le Culot,
Belgium with F-5s, return to base at Jarny, France.