Mission 76

Mission Summaries > May 1944

MONDAY, 22 MAY 1944

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force):

Occupancy of all planned Eighth Air Force stations in Britain is completed with the transfer of the airfield at N Pickenham from the RAF to the Eighth; total stations number 77, including 66 airfields, occupied by 82 operational or HQ units.

Mission 361:

438 bombers and 568 fighters are dispatched on PFF attacks to targets in Germany and France; 5 bombers and 7 fighters are lost:

342 B-17’s are dispatched to the port area at Kiel, Germany; 289 hit the primary and 5 bomb targets of opportunity; 5 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 209 damaged; 4 airmen are KIA, 3 WIA and 78 MIA.

94 of 96 B-24s hit V-weapon sites at Siracourt, France; 1 B-24 is damaged.

Escort is provided by 145 P-38s, 95 P-47s and 328 P-51s; P-38s claim 8-1-5 Luftwaffe aircraft, P-47s claim 12-1-2 and P-51s claim 2-2-1; 3 P-38s, 3 P-47s and a P-51 are lost; 1 P-38 and 2 P-47s are damaged beyond repair; 1 P-38, 2 P-47s and a P-51 are damaged; 6 pilots are MIA.

130 P-47s are dispatched on a fighter-bomber attack railroad bridges at Hasselt and Liege, Belgium; 1 P-47 is lost and 1 damaged.

Mission 363:

4 of 4 B-17s drop 320,000 leaflets on The Hague, Haarlem, Rotterdam and Utrecht, The Netherlands without loss.

12 B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions without loss.

Target: Siracourt, France - V-1 Rocket Launch Site (NOBALL)
8th Air Force Mission No:	361
Aircraft Taking Off:	22
Aircraft Dispatched:	22
Aircraft Aborts:	0
Aircraft Over Primary:	21
Aircraft Over Secondary:	0
Aircraft Over Last Resort:	0
Aircraft Bomb Load:	2 x 500 lb. AN-M43 General Purpose bombs 7 x 1,000 lb. AN-M44 General Purpose bombs
Group Bomb Load:	48 x 500 lb. AN-M43 General Purpose bombs 136 x 1,000 lb. AN-M44 General Purpose bombs
Results:	Unobserved
Tactical Mission Report:	445th Bomb Group Mission Report 1. A/C Scheduled ----------------------- 22 A/C Airborne ------------------------- 22 A/C Dispatched ---------------------- 22 A/C Over Target --------------------- 22 A/C Attacking ------------------------ 21 A/C Returning ------------------------ 22 2. Assembly: First ship of Group off at 08:45 using Plan "B" with assembly over Buncher #6. The navigator of the G.H. Ship was unable to get the Buncher on the radio compass as he had the wrong frequency. When he finally got us over Buncher #6, the group was already formed, so we pulled in ahead of them and were in position at 10:08 as we crossed Buncher #6 for the 360° turn. As we came over the Buncher again we were flying parallel to the 453rd Bomb Group on a north heading so it was very easy to take interval and fall in trail. Columns were maintained all the way in and out in proper order. 3. IP: Four flares were fired at I.P. At this point the navigator said G.H. equipment was out so we closed in on the 453rd Bomb Group and dropped on their flares, smoke bombs on briefed heading, a timed difference in bomb drop of 40 seconds. 4. Target: Light, meager flak, 9/10 to 10/10 cloud cover, visibility (vertical) about 4-5 miles (Haze). 5. Return: No flak after leaving target. Off course 3 miles at the Enemy Coast. 6. Enemy Fighters: None observed. 7. Fighter Support: Area cover, good. 8. Flak: Light, inaccurate at the target only. 9. Comment: I flew with Lt. Wylie in the G.H. ship. The same crew flew the same ship the day before last. Two superchargers. #1 and #4, and the A-5 were written up as out. On the following day, 22 May, I rode with them again. At 15,000 feet on climb we lost the #4 engine again and were never able to pull 20" from that engine on the entire trip. We also tried A-5 several times, but it made radical corrections. Apparently this ship was never test flown after the Form 1 was closed on previous day. HOWARD E. KRIEDLER Major, Air Corps, Formation Commander
Losses: None.
Note: None.