Mission 14 - 445BG

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Mission 14

Mission Summaries > January 1944
SATURDAY, 29 JANUARY 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force):

2 missions are flown:

Mission 198:
Led by PFF aircraft, 675 B-17's and 188 B-24's are dispatched to hit the industrial area at Frankfurt, Germany; 590 B-17's and 170 B-24's hit the primary target; 46 B-17's bomb Ludwigshafen due to a deviation from planned bomb route; they claim 75-27-48 Luftwaffe aircraft; 24 B-17's and 5 B-24's are lost, 2 B-17's and 3 B-24's are damaged beyond repair and 116 B-17's and 19 B-24's are damaged; casualties are 22 KIA, 32 WIA and 299 MIA. Escort is 89 P-38's, 503 P-47's and 40 Ninth Air Force P-51's; they claim 47-6-14 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 P-38's and 10 P-47's are lost, 1 P-38 is damaged beyond repair and 3 P-38's and 1 P-47 are damaged; casualties are 14 MIA.

This is first Eighth Air Force mission in which more than 700 aircraft attack targets.

Mission 199:
During the evening, 5 of 5 B-17's drop 1.2 million leaflets on Lille, Tours, Lorient, Nantes and Valenciennes, France without loss.
Target: Frankfurt, Germany - Industrial Complex
8th Air Force F.O. No:
198
Aircraft Taking Off:
28
Aircraft Dispatched:
27
Aircraft Aborts:
1
Aircraft Over Primary:
26
Aircraft Over Secondary:
0
Aircraft Over Last Resort:
0
Aircraft Bomb Load:
40 x 100 lb. AN-M41 Incendiary bombs
Group Bomb Load:
1,040 x 100 lb. AN-M41 Incendiary bombs
Results:
Unobserved due to cloud cover
Tactical Mission Report:
Mission Data:
Date:
Primary Target:  
Secondary Target:  
Last Resort Target:  
Units Participating:

Narrative:

Assembly:
First ship off at 0800; last ship off at 0819. Group assembly accomplished without difficulty by 0845. Climbed to 15,000 over Splasher 6 and arrived at Buncher 6, but could not locate the 389th as briefed. No identifying flares were seen. Departed Buncher 6 at 0928 - two minutes late hoping to contact the 389th at Splasher 5. This was done and we assembled with the 389th by playing turn around Splasher 5. The Second Squadron of the 389th was flying low and to the left of the lead squadron of the 389th. These circumstances made the Wing assembly slow and spread out. The Second Squadron of the 389th did not seem to be flying forward on the lead.

Climb:
Group formations were good during the climb but Wing formation was still spread out. Second Squadron of the 389th was still low and to the left.

I.P.:
From the enemy coast to the I.P. the 389th did extreme swings and changed course several times. Evidently they were allowing the 14th Wing a chance to get into the lead. It was very difficult to hold position during these turns. The course flown into the target was different than the one briefed. No yellow-yellow flares at the I.P. were seen. The 445th Lead fired a yellow-yellow approximately 3 minutes from bombs away. We dropped on the 389th. The turn from the target was good and the wing was in pretty good shape at the R.P.

Return:
Our Group formation was tight enroute to the target, but on the return route out we straggled. The return cruising speed seemed to exceed 165 MPH.

Enemy Fighters:
Heavy contact was made with enemy fighters going into the target. Several aircraft fired rockets into the formation.

Fighter Escort:
Good on the way in and out and excellent over the target.

Flak:
Moderate to heavy, inaccurate over the target
Losses:  None
Note:  None
Frankfurt Germany Industrial Complex
Image courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration ©
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