Mission 71

Mission Summaries > May 1944

FRIDAY, 12 MAY 1944

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force):

Mission 353:

886 bombers and 735 fighters are dispatched to hit oil production facilities in Germany and Czechoslovakia; there is strong Luftwaffe fighter reaction and 46 bombers and 7 fighters are lost:

326 B-17s are dispatched to Merseburg (224 bomb) and Lutzkendorf (87 bomb); 1 hits Hedrongen and 1 bombs Bullstadt; 2 B-17s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 189 damaged; 4 airmen are KIA, 6 WIA and 20 MIA.

295 B-17s are dispatched to Brux, Czechoslovakia (140 bomb) and Zwickau (74 bomb); 11 hit Chemnitz, 14 hit Gera marshalling yard, 15 hit Hof and 4 hit targets of opportunity; 41 B-17s are lost, 1 is damaged beyond repair and 162 damaged; 3 airmen are KIA, 8 WIA and 377 MIA.

265 B-24s are dispatched to Zeitz (116 bomb) and Bohlen (99 bomb); 14 hit Merseburg, 1 hits Ostend Airfield, Belgium and 12 hit targets of opportunity; 3 B-24s are lost, 5 damaged beyond repair and 61 damaged; 7 airmen are WIA and 33 MIA.

Escort is provided by 153 P-38s, 201 P-47s and 381 P-51s; P-38s claim 2-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft, P-47s claim 26-0-8 and P-51s claim 33-0-3 in the air and 5-0-2 on the ground; 4 P-47s and 3 P-51s are lost and 4 P-47s and 9 P-51s are damaged; 7 pilots are MIA.

Mission 354:

5 of 5 B-17s drop 1.74 million leaflets on Denmark; 1 aircraft is damaged; 2 airmen are KIA and 3 WIA.

Target: Zeitz, Germany - Brabag Gas & Synthetic Oil Refinery
8th Air Force Mission No:	353
Aircraft Taking Off:	26
Aircraft Dispatched:	23
Aircraft Aborts:	3
Aircraft Over Primary:	20
Aircraft Over Secondary:	0
Aircraft Over Last Resort:	0
Aircraft Bomb Load:	18 x 250 lb. AN-M57 General Purpose bombs
Group Bomb Load:	361 x 250 lb. AN-M57 General Purpose bombs
Results:
Tactical Mission Report:	445th Bomb Group Mission Report 1. A/C Scheduled ------------------------------ 26 A/C Airborne -------------------------------- 26 A/C Returned Early ------------------------ 3 A/C Dispatched ----------------------------- 23 A/C Aborted --------------------------------- 3 A/C Over Target ---------------------------- 20 A/C Returned ------------------------------- 20 Aircraft 42-73509, over target but did not bomb due to rack malfunction. Listed above as as abort. 2. Assembly: The Group formed slowly, possibly due to the fact that we did not level off at 10,000 as briefed, but comtinued on to 15,000. I felt this was necessary as there had been a 5 minute advance in times since it was briefed, and did not want to take a chance on arriving late at altitude. The Wing formed without any trouble on the 360° turn at Buncher #6. The Division assembly was one of the best I have ever seen. Wach Wing entering and leaving the assembly line at the correct time, position, altitude and spacing. 3. Route In: For the first hundred miles everyone was well spaced and we were a few minutes behind time. However we over ran a B-17 Division at this point and had the alternative of slowing down to such an extent that we stalled our Wing men out, or else we had to S to such an extent that made navigation extremely difficult. We compromised and did a little of both. We came in just a little south of the IP. 4. Target: We gave the code word and fired the flares a little past the Combat Wing IP and cut the Group IP slightly short to give succeeding squadrons a good opportunity to uncover. We had a good run on the A-5 and the pattern seemed to be pretty good. 5. Route Home: The Wing became split when we rallied to start home but the portion split off informed us they were with another Wing of 24s as well as 17s. We were also with eight other 24s and a Division of 17s, so wemade no attempt to change our positions. We came out at the briefed point. 6. Enemy Fighters: None. 7. Fighter Support: Good. 8. Flak: None.
Losses: None.
Note: This Group Commander's Report written by Lt Col Carl (nmi) Fleming Jr. states the known problem of having mixed aircraft types (B-17's & B-24's) in the same formation. The speed differential between a fully loaded heavy bomber at cruising altitude clearly shows that the Davis Wing design of the B-24 was clearly superior to the nearly obsolete wing of the B-17. The speed differential after bombs away was even greater with the B-24 being some 20-30 miles per hour faster than the B-17.

Zeitz, Germany - Brabag Gas & Synthetic Oil Refinery

The two images shown here are (left) the oil refinery before the war and (right) the Brebag Gas and Synthetic Oil Refinery near the end of the war. It was this stranglehold on Germany's oil production that grounded the Luftwaffe and prevented the assembly and use of the jet fighters (Me 262) and heavy tanks like the King Tiger.