Battle over Germany

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• American bombers attack several sites in northern Germany including Rostock and Stettin. At the latter port, B-17s sink Type IXB school submarine U-108, Type VIIC submarine U-902 which is fitting out, two Marinefährprahms, one Artilleriefährprahm, one cargo ship, a gunnery training ship, and an accommodation ship.

 

Crew of B-17G “Flatbush Floogie” captured near Schillig Germany 11 April 1944

 

• At the request of the Dutch resistance, six Mosquito FB-VIs of No. 613 (City of Manchester) Squadron make a pinpoint daylight attack at rooftop height on the Kunstzaal Kleykamp Art Gallery in The Hague. The gallery is being used by the Gestapo to store the Dutch Central Population Registry.

 

- The first two aircraft drop high explosive bombs to "open up" the building, their bombs going in through the doors and windows. The other crews then drop incendiary bombs, and the records are destroyed. In the most successful precision strike of the war, only persons in the building are killed — with nearby civilians in a bread queue being unharmed.

Incendiaries striking the gallery"

[jollyjack]

Yep, thanks for the info:

According this history related post there was a great loss of civillian lives, and only a very limited success of destroying the so-called 'shadow archives' of the nazis there:

https://haagsgemeentearchief.nl/ontdek-de-stad/verhalen-van-de-stad/het-bombardement-op-villa-kleykamp

 

[357th_KW]

April 10th, 1944 (80 years ago yesterday) marked a change in the campaign.  The 8th AF had begun carrying out operations under the control of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) in preparation for Operation Overlord, striking at a number of airfields in France.  Transportation targets and airfields in France (along with V-1 sites) would become some of the most common targets in the following months.  General Eisenhower and his deputy, Air Chief Marshall Sir Arthur Tedder had come to a compromise with General Spaatz as to the employment of US Strategic Air Forces - support for Overlord would get the top priority, with continuing pressure on the Luftwaffe over Germany now a secondary task.  Spaatz would also be free to pursue his own target of choice - the German oil industry - when those other tasks permitted it.

 

Operation Pointblank had been concluded at the end of March.  The goal of attaining air superiority for the invasion seemed well in hand - in the entire month of March 2nd TAF had only claimed about a dozen German aircraft shot down over France, and their only loss to fighters during the day over France was a Mosquito mistakenly shot down by P-51s of the US 4th Fighter Group.  The Luftwaffe's scarcity over France (and all other German battlefields at the time) was the result of a massive effort taking place over Germany.  Over 3500 Luftwaffe sorties had been flown against 8th Air Force raids in March, despite generally poor weather conditions.  424 German fighters had been destroyed and 245 pilots were killed or missing.  The battle in the skies over Germany in April would prove to be even more intense. 

 

On April 11th, 1944 (80 years ago today) the 8th continued with striking at German aviation targets.  917 heavy bombers were accompanied by 819 escort sorties, countered by a force of 428 Luftwaffe fighters.  This proved to be a very costly day for the bombers of the 8th with 64 lost along with another 16 fighters.  The cost to the Luftwaffe was 53 aircraft.  The Me410's and Bf110's of ZG26 had been withdrawn to Konigsberg-Neumark (known today as Chojna in Poland) to try to keep them out of range of of American escorts, but they still lost 11 aircraft and 16 crew killed at the hands of the P-51s. 

 

The process of converting to the P-51 as the standard fighter of the 8th AF continued, with the 352nd Fighter group flying a mixed mission of P-51s and P-47s this day.  P-51s now made up about 30% of the escort force, and on this day claimed roughly 80% of the victories from the escort fighters.  The new 339th Fighter Group would enter service with the P-51 in April, and two P-47s groups (the 359th and 361st) would convert in May.  By the beginning of 1945, 14 of 15 8th Air Force fighter groups would be equipped with the P-51.

 

"After Sitzbereitschaft, I took off with the Gruppe at 0958 hours in Fw 190A-7 ‘Red 23’ (two MG 151/20, two MG 131) with orders to the units of JG 27 over the Brocken. After assembly, JG 1 flew to the Brocken at a course of 30°, but JG 27 was not there. After control was passed from JD 3 to JD 2, communication was impossible, so we used the Reichsjagerwelle [a running commentary broadcast on a single frequency to all defenders]. In PO GC, the enemy was sighted – HB formations flying NE in PO GA. The Gruppe turned to the left and carried out a dosed frontal attack in PO FB. I attacked the lowest B-17 in a small Pulk on the left from the low front and obtained hits in the fuselage and cockpit, at which the B-17 immediately showed a bright plume. After passing through the formation, I saw that the Boeing had tipped over its left wing and was diving straight down. I could not see the crash because I was in combat with the enemy escort. Re-assembly for further dosed attacks was impossible after the Gruppe had been split up by the very strong escort. It came down to individual combats in Rotte and Schwarm strength. The combat was witnessed by Obfw. Schuhmacher, Oblt. Eder and Obfw. Bach.

 

Major Heinz Bar, Gruppenkommandeur Stab II./JG 1"

 

http://www.spitfireperformance.com/mustang/combat-reports/357-adams-11april44.jpg

 

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• The motion picture "The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress" opens in Hollywood. The film documents the 25th and final mission of the crew of the Eighth Air Force's B-17F "Memphis Belle."

 

• The largest Allied bombing mission against Hungary to date occurs with 163 B-17s attacking an aircraft plant at Győr while 324 B-24s attack Budapest, Tököl and Vecsés. Fighter opposition and AA account for fourteen bombers and one fighter shot down; 40 enemy fighters are claimed shot down. 1,073 people on the ground are killed and about 500 injured, prompting the evacuation of 100,000 from Budapest.

 

- Hungarian opposition includes sixteen Me-210s that were transferred from the Luftwaffe to the Magyar Királyi Honvéd Légierő after the failure of the design. They fail to shoot down any American aircraft and take very heavy losses. The Hungarians are producing their own Me-210s at the Danubian Aircraft Plant, and they will shortly halt it, switching to license built Bf-109s, with one out of every three produced going to the Luftwaffe.

 

Hungarian Me-210Cs

 

Fifteenth Air Force B-24 over Hungary"

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Nearly five hundred B-17s and B-24s hit targets in Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. The B-24s bomb the Marshalling yard at Sofia while the B-17s bomb the industrial area, air depot and marshalling yard at Belgrade.

 

- The Semyin Anhaltelager at Belgrade - a German detention camp for political prisoners, captured Partisans and forced labourers awaiting deportation, is damaged and a large number of inmates attempt to escape through the destroyed fence, only to be mowed down by machine gun fire. The camp will be closed in July.

B-24 over Sofia Bulgaria 1944

 

Belgrade raid with target area outlined in white and Anhaltelager in red"

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Special RAF Fortress B.III electronic countermeasures aircraft enter service with Bomber Command. They are extensively modified B-17Gs equipped with an American AN/APS15 radar in the large radome under the nose, "Airborne Cigar" (ABC) radio-jamming equipment, and an "Airborne Grocer" aircraft radar jamming installation, the aerials of which can be seen on either side of the tail gunner.

 

These aircraft will make over a thousand sorties in support of night-time bombing operations, losing just eight aircraft."

[357th_KW]

80 years ago today, April 24th 1944, the 8th Air Force launched mission # 315 striking aviation targets around Munich.  754 heavy bombers were escorted by 867 fighter sorties.  The Luftwaffe responded with 352 sorties of their own.  40 bombers and 17 escorts were lost in exchange for 66 interceptors.  Bill Marshall wrote an excellent and detailed account of the day's action, available here on Mike Williams' website. 

 

April 1944 would prove to be the most intense month yet of the air battle over Germany.  The Luftwaffe would mount over 4000 sorties against US raids, accounting for 314 bombers.  This would be the 8th's highest month loss total for the entire war, with 393 heavy bombers lost to all causes.

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "

• Sergeant Normal Cyril Jackson is a flight engineer on a No 106 Squadron Lancaster making a raid on Schweinfurt. A German night fighter damages the bomber and a fire breaks out from the starboard wing fuel tank. Although lightly wounded, he climbs out onto the wing with a fire extinguisher in one hand to fight the fire. Another (or perhaps the same) night fighter returns and attacks the bomber again, hitting Jackson in the legs and sweeping him off the wing.

 

- His parachute is partly burned and doesn’t deploy fully but does slow his descent enough that he lands with a more bruises and a broken ankle.  Local Germans parade him through town in the morning and he will spend ten months in hospital before being transferred to Stalag IX-C, from which he will escape twice, the second time successfully.

 

- His story is initially treated with skepticism until the other four survivors of the bomber crew (who had been forced to bail out) are released from Stalag IX-B and IX-D and confirm it. Jackson will receive the Victoria Cross."

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• 679 American heavy bombers and 814 fighters attack Berlin. Thirty-eight B-17s are shot down and more than three hundred damaged. Twenty-four B-24s are shot down and one hundred twenty-three are damaged. Three P-38s, one P-47, and ten P-51s are shot down and another thirty fighters damaged. They claim to have shot down 95 German fighters.

 

- From today’s raid, and back when Boeing had quality control:

 

 

[Note that the US lost 62 four engine bombers, and 14 fighters for a claimed 95 German fighters. Considering claims to be about three times actual loses, and ignoring German pilots surviving by bailing out and wounded US personnel that made it back to base, the US lost 510 highly trained personnel to German loses of 32 pilots.

 

And that is a ratio Germany cannot sustain!]

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Bomber Command attacks a Wehrmacht armor training centre close to the village of Mailly-le-Camp, France. It is a relatively small target and the intention is to obliterate it with high explosives. The initial marking by the 14 Pathfinder Mosquitos is accurate, but when the raid commander attempts to call in the 346 Lancasters to complete the attack, the transmissions are drowned out by German jamming transmissions of music. During the delay before the bombing could be organized, the Germans are able to get a large force of night fighters on scene, and 42 Lancasters are shot down with the loss of 258 airmen.

 

- 1,500 tons of bombs hit the training camp, destroying over 150 barrack buildings and transport sheds together with over 100 vehicles, including training tanks. More than 200 soldiers, mostly experienced Panzer NCO instructors, are killed.

 

Mailly-le-Camp after the raid

 

Damaged Lancaster returned from the Mailly-le-Camp raid"

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago yesterday] "• 1,500 American heavy bombers and fighters attack Berlin, while B-26s attack the Mezieres-Charleville railway yards. American and Commonwealth bombers attack the Bucharest rail yards day and night.

 

- Up until May, 1944, most bombers have been downed by fighters. For the rest of the war anti-aircraft fire will down the majority of lost Allied bombers.

 

- The Henschel-117 surface to air missile is being tested. More than half of the 59 tests are failures but it will be ordered into production in December. The project will be cancelled in February, 1945.

 

 

Edited May 8, 2024 by cardboard_killer

[357th_KW]

80 years ago today on May 12th, the 8th Air Force took advantage of clear weather over central Europe and launched the first raid of the oil campaign.  Targets included synthetic oil refineries at Brux, Merseburg, Lutzkendorf, Zeitz and Bohlen which were attacked by a force of 886 B-17s and B-24s.  The Luftwaffe launched it's largest defensive effort of the campaign with over 500 sorties flown.  Heavy combat took place resulting in the loss of 46 bombers and 10 fighters, while the defenders lost 88 interceptors.

 

 

Amidst this enormous battle was an unusual encounter between two famous aces, as described in Donald Caldwell's "The Luftwaffe Over Germany":

 

"In mid-April II./JG 11 had received a new Kommandeur, Major Günther Rall, from the Eastern Front. He had no experience against the USAAF, but was an incredibly skilled fighter pilot—in fact, he is the third-highest scoring in history—and it was obviously felt that he would do well in his new command, which had the primary mission of dogfighting the U.S. escorts. The Gruppe did find some escorts: P-47s of Colonel Hub Zemke’s 56th Group, which were flying a scheduled sweep but were too far in front to support the bombers. Zemke was trying a new tactic, the “Zemke Fan,” which scattered independent flights in front of the bomber stream, sweeping a large volume of sky to maximize the chance of finding German fighters. The flaw in this plan was that flights of four P-47s were themselves in danger if they happened to encounter a large formation of Messerschmitts, which is just what happened.

    The day’s mission found Rall leading his Gruppe at 11,000 meters (36,000 ft.), without pressurization or cabin heating, and 3,000 meters (10,000 ft.) above the Fw 190s. Rall dove onto a formation of P-47s and shot down one of Zemke’s two wingmen (Zemke’s flight was missing a plane). Zemke and his other wingman dove away, and another flight attacked Rall, who dove allout from 8,000 meters (26,000 ft.) to tree-top level. He reached 1,000 km/h (620 mph) and saw paint peeling from his wings. Rall knew he could not out-dive P-47s, but he had no option. He was being attacked by four in line abreast, and could not turn into either pair without being attacked by the other. He took some hits in his engine and radiator, and at some point his thumb was shot off; he was wearing gloves, and did not learn the extent of his injury until later. He felt no pain at the time. After cleaning the ice off his windshield with his good hand, Rall zoom-climbed to 2,500 meters (8,200 ft.) and attempted to bail out. He was upside down and was pushed back into the plane, but eventually got out. He was able to reach the chute handle and pulled it at about 500 meters (1,600 ft.). Only then did his thumb start hurting—badly. His descent was smooth. He landed in a tree on a steep slope, hit the release, dropped to the ground, and rolled down a forested hill into a gully, without further injury. This was a “lucky” landing, because Rall had broken his back three times in Russia and had been warned not to bail out again. He started walking through the forest and was eventually found by some farmers, who took him to their village, gave him juice and cigarettes, and entertained him royally. The region was on alarm status and there was no road traffic. An ambulance arrived after an hour and took him to Nassau hospital, which was waiting to operate on him. He had left his glove on all this time (he still has the glove), but the thumb was hanging on only by a thread of skin and could not be saved. He developed an infection and stayed in the hospital for some time, eventually leaving with the wound still open. He returned to operations in 1945 as Kommodore of JG 300, but never flew another combat mission. His Gruppe did its duty on May 12, but at high cost. The other three members of his Stabsschwarm were all shot down; the Gruppe’s losses totaled 2 KIA, 5 WIA, and 11 Bf 109s, for claims of Rall’s P-47 and two P-51s."

 

Caldwell goes on to offer this analysis of the results of the day's combat:

 

"May 12, 1944, can fairly be called the worst single day of the war for Germany. Other days brought dramatic battlefield defeats, and terrible casualties, but never ended without leaving the possibility of a reversal of fortune. This was not true of this day, which was the true tipping point, leading irrevocably to Germany’s final defeat. Albert Speer recorded in his diary that, “On this day the technological war was decided.” Five synthetic oil refineries, all absolutely crucial to the successful prosecution of the war, were reached and heavily bombed. The RLV put up its largest day-fighter force ever; I. Jagdkorps’ command and control procedures worked perfectly; and the bombers still could not be stopped. All the Americans had to do was keep up the campaign they had now begun, and German defeat was inevitable. On May 19, Speer commented to Hitler at Obersalzberg: The enemy has struck us at one of our weakest points. If they persist at it this time, then we will soon no longer have any fuel production worth mentioning. Our one hope is that the other side has an air force general staff as scatterbrained as ours!

The May 12 raid was even more successful than the staff of USSTAF had hoped. An Ultra intercept confirmed a cutback in non-operational flying as a direct consequence of the reduction in supply of aviation fuel. The stocks which had been built up in anticipation of the Allied invasion immediately began to fall. The “Bomber Barons” at last had a target to justify the enormous investment which had been made in the strategic bombing force. Support for the Normandy invasion required a large effort by USSTAF for the next two months, but by July 21, according to Speer, 98 percent of all of Germany’s aircraft fuel plants were out of operation. The German powers of recovery were, as usual, remarkable, but monthly production of aviation fuel dropped from c. 180,000 tons in March 1944 to c. 20,000 tons in November; inventory dropped from c. 575,000 tons in March to c. 175,000 tons in November. The USSTAF scheduled an immediate follow-up to the successful May 12 attack. Refineries in Poland were targeted on the 13th, but the weather did not cooperate, and targets of opportunity were bombed. The Wehrmacht struggled to bolster the defenses of the oil targets. Confidence in the fighter arm reached a new low. An Ultra intercept on the 14th recorded a call for the transfer of Luftwaffe Flak units from the Eastern Front, where they were valuable anti-tank resources, to the refineries."

[357th_KW]

80 years ago yesterday, the 8th Air Force launched mission #373 targeting a variety of rail yards in Eastern France and Western Germany.  24 bombers were lost out of 1126 who set out on the mission.  An additional 8 escorts were lost, along with 30 Luftwaffe fighters.  During the course of the raid Captain Clarence E Anderson of the 363rd Fighter Squadron, 357th Fighter Group engaged some of the Luftwaffe high cover.  The ensuing combat is dramatically described in the first chapter of Anderson's book.  The original after action report can be found here: http://www.spitfireperformance.com/mustang/combat-reports/357-anderson-27may44.jpg

 

In addition, Anderson's gun camera film from the engagement is available online:

 

 

Anderson would finish the war as a triple ace and go on to a long and successful career in the USAF.  He recently passed away after an incredible life at the age of 102.  Rest in peace Bud.

[357th_KW]

May 31st, 1944 - The 8th Air Force attacks 9 different marshaling yards in Western Germany.  Only light resistance is encountered from the Luftwaffe and 1 bomber is lost along with 3 escorts in exchange for 5 German fighters.  This caps off a very busy week of raids from both of the American Strategic Air Forces building up to Operation Overlord.  No further attacks on the Reich will be made by the 8th for three weeks, as all Allied air power in the West is focused on support for the invasion.

 

April 1944 had proved to be the high water mark for the Reich's defense force.   8th Air Force sortie rates had been rising dramatically from the beginning of the year, with Luftwaffe sorties and bombers losses rising as well.  April would see 10,191 bomber sorties flown by the 8th, with 393 lost (3.85% per sortie).  Escort sorties totaled 12,096 with 190 losses (1.5% per sortie).  Luftwaffe losses had totaled 442 fighters and 245 pilots killed or missing (10.6% per sortie).

 

May would see both sides significantly increase their sorties rates - by 25% for the Luftwaffe and 50% for the US.  In addition May saw the 8th Fighter Command convert additional groups to the P-51 Mustang and activate an additional P-38 Lightning group.  There would now be 16 groups of long range Mustangs and Lightnings available for escort duty between the 8th and the 9th (9th AF fighters routinely performed escort missions to supplement the 8th up until Overlord).  The outcome would be a massive drop in the loss rate for US bombers - down to 2% overall, with only 211 falling to German fighters as opposed to the 314 lost to the Luftwaffe the month prior.  The cost to the Luftwaffe was even higher, with 526 fighters lost and 238 pilots killed or missing (still at a 10% rate). 

 

The first five months of 1944 had cost the Jagdwaffe 2052 aircraft and 1126 pilots killed or missing (not to mention the wounded, many of whom would never fly again), solely from combating the 8th Air Force.  According to Dr Alfred Price's data, the Luftwaffe only had 1063 serviceable fighters available on all fronts as of May 31st.  Donald Caldwell lists 1499 fighters total, including unserviceable aircraft at the beginning of June, down from 1900 at the beginning of the year.  Massive resources had been poured into fighter production in an attempt to combat the bomber offensive - Albert Speer estimated that roughly half of the German war economy was dedicated to producing aircraft by mid 1944 (the US Strategic Bombing Survey came to a similar number as well).  And the number of airframes produced did increase dramatically.  But in spite of this, the combination of intense air combat, attacks against production and distribution networks, and fuel starvation and demands for pilots robbing the training apparatus (which contributed to ever increasing non-combat losses) had resulted in the German fighter force shrinking.  And it wasn't just the fighter force being impacted - production of many aircraft types had ceased in an effort to focus production efforts on fighters, while fuel shortages would render many of the larger multi-engine bomber and transport types useless.  Indeed, many of the bomber units would see pilots transferred away to the fighter arm, and eventually whole units would be converted to fighters, with a KG(J) designation, as 1944 wound on.

 

The consequences of this dramatic attrition to the German fighter arm would play out in one week over Normandy, where the German defensive plan hinged on using their fighters in typical fire-brigade fashion, transferring 17 Gruppen to France in response to the invasion.  This should have represented a powerful force of over 1000 fighters, which could help keep the Allied air power at bay.  Instead, only 289 were reported as operational on the night of June 7th.

 

This damage to the Luftwaffe didn't come cheaply for the USAAF.  1550 heavy bombers (roughly 1000 lost to enemy fighters) and 757 escorts (roughly 400 lost to enemy fighters) had been lost in combat in the first five months of 1944. 

 

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• The US Fifteenth Air Force begins shuttle bombing (coded FRANTIC) between Italy and Soviet bases. 130 bombers and 70 fighters, after attacking rail targets at Debrecen (Hungary), continue East and land at the three Soviet bases at Poltava, Morgorod, and Piryatin. The Americans are disappointed in the condition of the bases, but they had only recently been liberated from the Luftwaffe and had been thoroughly demolished.

 

Operation Frantic B-17s on Soviet air base at Poltava Ukraine"

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Six hundred American heavy bombers attack oil refineries in Austria and Czechoslovakia. Fifteen are lost.

 

B-24 burning after being hit by flak over Vienna 16 June, 1944. One crewman can be seen climbing out of the hatch behind the cockpit. The bomber explodes before anyone can jump.

 

• Four hundred British bombers begin a campaign against German V-1 flying bomb launching sites with successful attacks on four sites in the Pas-de-Calais, losing no aircraft. Another 321 bombers continue the bombing campaign against the German oil industry, attacking the synthetic oil plant at Oberhausen, Germany, but scatter their bombs and suffer the loss of 21 bombers shot down by German night fighters and 10 by antiaircraft guns."

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• P-47s of the 56th Fighter Squadron on a strafing mission against Gardelegen airfield spot a flight of Ju-52s approaching to land.

 

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• British bombing of Kiel is unusually effective in part as a decoy force draws off German night fighters. Bombing causes the city to have no running water for 3 days, no gas service for 3 weeks, and no running trains or buses for 8 days. Submarine tender Erwin Wassenar, submarine U-1164, Sperrbrecher 25 Ingrid Horn, cargo freighter Axel, coastal tankers Merignac and Treene, and accommodation ship General Osario are all sunk."

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• The Me-163 Komet has its combat debut with an attack on more than seven hundred B-17s near Leipzig. Two bombers may have been damaged by Komets, but none are downed. The entire Me-163 program will result in nine bombers shot down in exchange for fourteen Komets in the air. A large number of Komets will also be lost to accidents and to attack on the ground, as the Allies will learn to strafe Komet bases after they land and are immobile.

 

 

Me-163 in a P-47 gun camera image."

[357th_KW]

August 6th, 1944 - 80 years ago today.  8th Air Force bombers target oil and manufacturing targets in Hamburg, Brandenburg and Berlin.  Much of the Jagdwaffe is still committed to the battle in France, but 184 sorties are flown by single-engine fighters.  The days of the zerstorer as an interceptor have come to an end - only a handful of sorties are flown by Me410s, and they are employed as "shadowers", following the bomber formation at distance and making position reports to ground controllers.

 

Flying that day at was Major George Preddy of the 352nd Fighter Group.  Jay Stout tells the story in his book "Fighter Group: The 352nd Blue-Nosed Bastards of Bodney in World War II"

 

On the evening of August 5, 1944, Preddy hit it big at the craps table at Bodney’s officers club. By the end of the night he had taken everyone’s money and in fact collected shirts and jackets and other uniform items from those who owed him more money than they had. But the various pieces of clothing were secondary to the $1,200 in cash he won. It was the equivalent of several months pay. Preddy also hit it big at the bar. It wasn’t unusual. Like many of his peers he drank with abandon when he celebrated. And because the next day’s weather was expected to be too poor for a mission he didn’t moderate his intake. By the time he crawled into bed that night, Preddy was good and drunk.

 

He was wakened a short time later. The bombers were headed to Berlin and the 352nd was tasked with escorting them from Hamburg to Berlin and part of the way back. Preddy was scheduled to lead it; he hadn’t been asleep even close to long enough to get sober. In fact, his drunkenness hadn’t even had time to transition to a hangover. Meyer stopped by to check on him and on seeing how drunk he was offered to take the mission for him. “No, damn it,” Preddy replied. “I’ll take the mission. It’s my turn.”

 

Preddy checked the mission details and made ready to brief the rest of the group. Finally, with the pilots from all three squadrons in place and ready to take notes, he mounted the briefing platform and began. It didn’t go well. Still drunk, he stumbled off the platform more than once as he reeled off the mission particulars and his expectations for that day’s effort. The 352nd’s commanding officer, Joe Mason, leaned over to Meyer and noted that Preddy was still bombed. Meyer assured him that there was still time to get him in shape to fly. Whether Meyer, a stern disciplinarian, would have been so sympathetic if it were another pilot is not knowable. But certainly the idea that he would help a drunken man to lead the entire group was inconsistent with what might have been expected.

 

Nevertheless, during the time between the end of the briefing and the takeoff, Preddy was led off and made to breathe pure oxygen. It was widely believed that the unadulterated gas caused the body to metabolize alcohol more quickly. In reality, its effects were largely psychological.

 

Still, when it was time, Preddy climbed into his aircraft and led the group airborne without incident. In all likelihood, considering his high-spirited and social nature, and additionally considering the number of missions he had flown up to that point, it wasn’t the first time he had flown while hung over or drunk. As it developed, the weather was fabulous with nothing but a few high scattered clouds. Notwithstanding the spectacular conditions, Preddy vomited what remained of the previous night’s celebratory libations. Around him, the 352nd’s blue-nosed Mustangs arced gracefully over the bomber stream.

 

Here I'll interrupt Stout's words with Preddy's combat report from that day: http://www.spitfireperformance.com/mustang/combat-reports/352-preddy-6aug44.jpg

 

Continuing:

 

Preddy made an uneventful flight back to Bodney where he made a fast, loud, low-level victory pass before pitching up and landing. He was met at his hardstand by his ground crew along with John C. Meyer and many of the 487th’s officers and men. Physically, despite the fact that several hours had passed since he had gotten airborne, he was still miserable. In the few photos that were taken after he landed he appeared subdued, even wretched, and not at all excited at having shot down six enemy aircraft.

 

If Preddy wasn’t excited, at least in his hung over condition, VIII Fighter Command certainly was and made certain that his exploits were well-publicized. His single-sortie score was a record at the time and the next day Bodney was overrun by a host of newsmen, photographers and commentators. He was compelled to reenact his return to the airfield and he beat up the base with victory rolls and other aerobatics. After landing and taxiing back to his hardstand, the welcome of the previous day was reenacted. All of the action was filmed and the footage was later combined with portions of his gun camera film to make a short publicity feature of the sort that was so popular during the war.

 

That short publicity feature appears to still exist in this British Pathe clip, running from 2:41 to 5:47.

 

 

 

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• Six members of a B-24 Liberator bomber crew shot down near Hanover, Germany are beaten to death by a mob of German civilians led by sisters Margarethe Witzler and Kathe Reinhardt. One of the victims, left for dead in the pile of battered bodies, survives to tell the tale. In August 1945, seven of the mob, including the sisters, will be sentenced to hang by a US military commission.

 

• AA batteries along the English coast down 65 V-1 flying bombs. 51 were downed yesterday.

 

 

- This is the peak of the V-1 offensive. As Allied troops are now starting to overrun launching sites, bombing of sites gets more accurate, and defenses get more efficient, numbers being launched and getting through will dwindle though periodic attacks will continue into 1945.

 

• The reopening of London theatres signals the effective defeat of the V-1 flying-bomb offensive. Meanwhile, the closure of theatres and amusements in Germany shows the desperate state the war has reached for the Nazis. In addition, all holidays are suspended as part of total German mobilization."

[357th_KW]

 

80 years ago today the 8th Air Force launched a maximum effort strike against central German oil production facilities.  The past week had been fairly quiet in the air due to bad weather.  The collapse of German forces in France and the retreat back to the Reich had been mirrored by the Luftwaffe, and units returning from France were gradually being built back up and reintegrated into the Reich's Defense Force.  The Luftwaffe scrambled everything available - 355 fighters, more than double what had been possible during the summer months due to the demands of Normandy.  A massive battle ensued over central Germany.  46 bombers and 25 escort fighters were lost to all causes by the Americans.  Bomber gunners put in claims for a mere 17 enemy aircraft destroyed, with escorts claiming 115 destroyed.  305 of the Luftwaffe fighters were credited with making contact with the USAAF formations - of these a disastrous 111 were destroyed.

 

Flying with the 355th Fighter Group were two pilots on exchange tours from the Commonwealth forces, Flight Lieutenant Lionel Sydney Frost (RAF) and Flight Lieutenant Warren B. Peglar (RCAF).  Both would claims victories flying the Mustang on this day.  A number of Commonwealth pilots flew tours with 8th Air Force fighter groups during mid 1944 to help Fighter Command develop experience in long range escort operations.

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today]" • 1,174 American heavy bombers and 968 fighters in five forces are dispatched to hit synthetic oil and rail installations in central Germany; an estimated 500 Luftwaffe fighters meet the bombers and 40 American bombers and 16 fighters are lost for an estimated 163 German fighters. This raid includes an interception by twelve Me-163 rocket fighters which down two bombers for the loss of four Komets.

 

[357th_KW]

From Donald Caldwell's "Dayfighters in Defence of the Reich" regarding the November 2nd raid:

 

"A full-strength 8th AF raid following a straight-line course to the oil targets in central Germany provoked a strong defensive effort by the I. Jagdkorps. JG 300 and JG 301 were stood down, but Gefechtsverbande were formed around JG 3, JG 4 and JG 27. The first two had the typical organisation of a Sturmgruppe escorted by several light Gruppen, while JG 27, which was operating as a full Geschwader for the first time in the war, contained only light Gruppen. The two Sturmgruppen were guided to vulnerable bomber Pulks by the experienced 1. Jagddivision controllers and made effective attacks – IV(Sturm)/JG 3 on the 91st BG, II.(Sturm)/JG 4 on the 457th BG – before the American escorts broke through the Bf 109 escorts and took their revenge. JG 27 was unable to make any headway against the bombers before being driven to ground by P-51 s; its losses today were the greatest of any day of the war. The jet and rocket fighters were up, but the jets of Kommando Nowotny were burdened with WGr 21 mortar tubes – there was still a dispute over their best armament against bombers – and could not reach the bombers, although they did claim three escorts for the loss of one jet fighter and pilot. One III./JG 54 Staffel had the mission of protecting the jets’ take-offs and landings with its new Fw 190D9s, and the five fighters it scrambled from Achmer downed two B-17s without loss, outshining the jets. I./JG 400 scrambled five Me 163s from Brandis, but since this was the only rocket fighter base and was in the day’s target area, it was blanketed by sweeping P-51s, and the Mustangs and leading B-17s downed four of the rocket fighters, killing three pilots. I./JG 400 could report no success and was unable to fly another mission in this strength for four months. After the mission, the 8th AF wrote off 42 bombers, most owing to the two successful Sturmangriffe, as well as 16 escorts. I. Jagdkorps lost 71 KIA or MIA, 31 WIA and 133 fighters. The day was an unmitigated disaster for I. Jagdkorps. It had scrambled 490 fighters, of which 305 made contact. 133 of these were shot down: a loss of 44 per cent."

 

This gun-camera reel contains a lot of film (including some of the Me163's) from that November 2nd battle:

 

[357th_KW]

80 years ago today:

 

PILOT’S ACCOUNT

21 November 1944

"Our Gruppe had just rejoined the Reich defence after rebuilding. Exactly four pilots in my 4. Staffel had flown missions as flight leaders; all of the others were young comrades who had just finished an abbreviated course at the fighter school. This morning the ‘dicke Autos’ [fat cars] were reported heading for Berlin. The weather was not at all ‘fighter friendly’: poor visibility and an almost solid cloud deck. Hptm. Ehlers led our 57 Fw 190s up from Greifswaldat 1042 hours. We assembled under the cloud deck and were sent south in close formation through the layer to rendezvous with a Gruppe of 80 Bf 109s. The 4. Staffel as usual was at the rear of the formation. After an hour without sighting a single bomber, I spotted the contrails of fighters paralleling our course, about 1,000 metres above. I warned Hptm. Ehlers, ‘Indians above us!’ only to be told curtly to shut up and keep radio silence. I was then taken by surprise by Mustangs attacking directly from our rear, hidden by our own contrails. We were constrained by our tight formation. The Gruppe broke up and was chased as far south as Erfurt. My ‘Red 1’ was hit in a dogfight with the Mustangs, but I was fortunately able to make a smooth belly landing near Gotha in my burning Focke-Wulf and could walk away without injury. Of the 57 aircraft to take off, 26 were shot down; 15 pilots lost their lives. The 4. Staffel suffered the worst. Eight of its 14 aircraft were shot down; four pilots were killed. Once again, it was made clear that, although the Luftwaffe could still put a useful number of aircraft into the air, its losses were ever increasing. For many of our young pilots, some only 19 years old, their first mission proved to be their last. They were nothing but cannon fodder, as was the rest of the fighter force.

 

Lt. Gerhard Hanf Staffelkapitän, 4./JG 1"

 

The US 8th Air Force sent 1200 heavy bombers with 950 escorts against oil targets at Merseberg,  Hamburg and Osnabruck.  The Luftwaffe launched at least 530 fighters in response, and lost 86 of these.  US losses for the day were 25 bombers and 15 escorts.

 

Edit - apparently I’m not getting enough sleep as I posted this two days early lol

Edited November 21, 2024 by 357th_KW

[357th_KW]

80 years ago today, taken from "Day Fighters in Defense of the Reich" by Donald Caldwell:

 

The 8th AF dispatched another large-scale bad-weather raid to the central German oil installations. The I. Jagdkorps ordered a large-scale defensive effort. The RLV bases were clear at ground level. Although none of the Sturmgruppen was ordered to participate, six other Jagdgruppen got up in time to form two Gefechtsverbände and reach the bombers prior to bombing. One formation was led by the JG 301 Kommodore and contained the three JG 301 Gruppen, all freshly equipped with Fw 190s. It was directed to an un escorted B-24 Pulk and downed 21 Liberators, most from the 491st BG, before Mustangs arrived to begin a slaughter of the green Focke-Wulf pilots. The other Verband, led by the JG 1 Kommodore and comprising I./JG 1, II./JG 1 and III./JG 6, downed a few more B-24s before P-51 s could put an end to their attacks. Nine Jagddivision 3 Gruppen were also scrambled against the bomber streams, but could not get through the escorts and accomplished little. The Americans wrote off 42 bombers and 11 escorts after the mission, a high number for the period, but Luftflotte Reich suffered the ruinous loss of 62 KIA or MIA, 32 WIA and 122 fighters.

 

PILOT’S ACCOUNT5 26 November 1944

 

"The morning fog burnt off, and the first reports came in of an enemy formation over the Deutsche Bucht. 30-minute readiness was followed by 15-minute readiness, at which the aircraft were taxied to their take-off positions. The 120 Fw 190A-8s and Fw 190A-9s of the Geschwader waited for the take-off order; for III./JG 301, this came at 1140 hours. After take-off, the Gruppe climbed while flying due west to Planquadrat FC, where we met the rest of the Geschwader. The message came over our headsets, ‘Fat Cars with many Indians approaching the area Hannover-Brunswick; increase speed and climb to 7,500 metres.’ After closing up, the Geschwader was given a new course of 240°. Soon we could see the broad contrails of the bomber Pulks on the horizon; not to be overlooked were the numerous thin streams from the escorts; After a few minutes, escort fighters passed us to the left, quite a distance away. Major Aufhammer gave the order, ‘Drop tanks!’

 

The P-51s were not ready for an attack at this moment. They were probably surprised to see such a strong German fighter formation directly in front of them. But the situation changed very quickly. I./JG 301 and most of II./JG 301 were soon involved in heavy combat. Many pilots of the Geschwader were not prepared for combat with enemy fighters; some of the Schwarmführer [flight leaders] were retrained bomber pilots, and most of the wingmen were youngsters right out of fighter pilot training.

 

The air battles quickly spread over the entire area between Hannover and Brunswick and were conducted with mutual bitterness. III./JG 301, which was designated a ‘heavy Gruppe’ and was expected always to attack the bombers, escaped the American fighters and found itself behind a B24 Pulk, which was then attacked from directly to the rear and 500 metres above. We had formed our attack wedges on the approach. Each wedge contained two flights echeloned back to left and right and was led by two experienced Schwarmführer who had flown with I./JG 302 in southern Germany. During the attack, the rear aircraft in the wedges moved up almost into line abreast formation, so that each wingman became an attacker. The first seconds of the attack stretched our nerves almost to the breaking point. The pilot behind his control stick, with thumb and index finger on the weapon buttons, could not avoid glancing over the Revi at the bomber. Despite the incoming tracers he had to find the nerves to hold down his fire to a range of 400 metres. At this point, the tension broke. Individual tactics differed among the pilots. Some first tried to knock out the gun turrets; others fired at the two inner engines.

 

Holes appeared in the Liberator formation during the first attack. Burning bombers and pieces crashed below. The radio conversation in such situations can scarcely be repeated. But the pilots of III./JG 301 understood the order to form up for a second attack on the remains of the bomber Pulk. After the second attack there were only a handful of Liberators, some damaged, still holding their course. The magazines of many fighters were now empty, but there were still the escorts to contend with. These almost always showed up after an attack on the bombers. We were always in an inferior position, from which it was not easy to escape in one piece. After such an air battle there was no attempt to re-form the Geschwader. Some machines could reach their home fields, but most had to make intermediate landings on strange fields. When all of the survivors had reported in, it was determined that 26 pilots were killed or remained missing; 13 had survived with severe injuries. These were the heaviest one-day losses JG 301 ever sustained; on its first two missions since returning to combat, the Geschwader lost 60 pilots – half its strength.

 

Fw. Willi Reschke 10./JG 301"

 

http://www.spitfireperformance.com/mustang/combat-reports/339-daniell-26nov44.jpg

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today, everywhere but Germans] "• HMS Implacable launches an airstrike against a German convoy of two ships and two escorts steaming south from Bodø to Trondheim. The Kriegsmarine transport Rigel and steamer Korsnes are both hit by Barracuda dive bombers and beached on the island of Rosøya.

 

SS Rigel (the larger vessel above) is carrying 2,248 Soviet, Polish and Yugoslav prisoners of war, 95 German deserters and 8 Norwegian prisoners in addition to 455 German soldiers and 32 crewmen. 2,571 are killed.

 

- Implacable aircraft also damage steamer Spree off  Mosjøen.

 

• An underground munitions depot at RAF Fauld in Staffordshire explodes as approximately four kilotons goes off at once, creating a quarter-mile wide crater. Seventy people are killed and a nearby reservoir collapses, flooding the site. It is still sealed off today since up to 90% of the munitions are still intact at the site and deemed to expensive/dangerous to remove.

 

- The cause has never been positively determined but is generally assumed to be human error since the site was understaffed and undertrained, including the use of inexperienced Italian POWs for moving and storage of bombs.

 

Bombs being stacked in RAF Fauld

 

Bombs being stacked in RAF Fauld"

[357th_KW]

80 years ago today, the 8th Air Force continued their offensive against German oil production.  Another quote from Caldwell:

 

"The 8th AF mounted a successful spoof raid in which 10 fighter groups flew above the overcast on a course and in a formation simulating a bomber raid on the central German oil targets. Only one of these groups carried bombs. I. Jagdkorps was fooled completely and ordered a maximum-strength interception. JG 300 and JG 301 emerged from the overcast to find only Mustangs and Thunderbolts, which slaughtered the hapless pilots of the two Geschwader that now formed the heart of the RLV force, costing them 27 KIA or MIA, 13 WIA and 50 fighters. In the meantime, the heavy bombers, escorted by the five remaining 8th AF fighter groups, bombed two west German rail yards without encountering a single Luftwaffe fighter. II. Jagdkorps was ordered to intercept the withdrawing bombers and scrambled seven of its Gruppen, but the reduced escort was sufficient to keep them from the bombers and cost the tactical units 10 KIA, six WIA and 30 fighters. For the day, the Americans wrote off 16 fighters and no bombers; Luftflotte Reich lost a total of 37 KIA or MIA, 19 WIA and 80 fighters."

 

Gun camera footage from the massive November battles:

 

 

 

 

[357th_KW]

80 years ago today (from Caldwell): 

 

"The 8th AF sent its B-17s to bomb the important Tegel ammunition works in Berlin, while the B-24s were sent to the Munich rail yards. The JG 1, JG 300 and JG 301 Gefechtsverbände all formed up and headed for Berlin, a higher-priority target, but all were dispersed by the Berlin Flak and/or American escorts before reaching the bombers. JG 1 lost 26 KIA or MIA, 15 WIA and 51 fighters on what proved to be its worst day of the war. The Americans wrote off 12 bombers and 19 escorts. The situation was desperate enough for Luftflotte Reich to send up I./KG 51, a pure Me 262 bomber unit and thus never in the RLV force, with orders to attack the escorts. The bomber pilots had no luck against the escorts, but did claim one B-1 7 without loss. RAF Bomber Command ordered a large force of its heavy bombers to bomb the Soest rail yards by day, shielded from the attention of Jagddivision 1 by the American raid on Berlin. II. Jagdkorps and Jagddivision 3 could not pass up a chance to attack an RAF bomber formation and sent up seven Jagdgruppen. These could not penetrate the heavy screen of RAF Spitfires and Mustangs, however, and lost eight KIA, four WIA and 14 fighters while downing one Spitfire. Luftflotte Reich lost 56 KIA or MIA, 23 WIA and 94 fighters against the two Allied bomber forces while claiming seven B-17s, 31 P-51s and three Spitfires. The confirmation process broke down before any of these claims made it through the system, but it appears that only one bomber and 11 fighters were in fact shot down by Luftwaffe fighters; the claims are only an indication of the intensity of the fighting."

 

RAF claims and losses for the day (from John Foreman's works) appear to be 3 Bf109s destroyed and 1 damaged, vs 1 Spitfire Mk IX lost - all from 91 Squadron.

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• The Commander of the USAAF 485th Bomb Group reports that during a raid on Odertal (now Koźle in Poland) his B-24s are targeted by surface to air missiles, with six of them damaged by shrapnel from exploding warheads. The type is unknown and the Germans are testing several varieties of SAM, with none entering full production.

 

Rheintöchter test launch in 1944"

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago today] "• With an abundance of male pilots now available to ferry military aircraft, the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) organization is disbanded. 25,000 women applied to join the WASP, but only 1,830 were accepted, of which 1,074 passed the training. Army Air Forces Chief of Staff Henry “Hap” Arnold announces:

 

"The WASP has completed its mission. Their job has been successful. But as is usual in war, the cost has been heavy. Thirty-eight WASPs have died while helping their country move toward the moment of final victory. The Air Forces will long remember their service and their final sacrifice."

 

- All records of the WASP are classified and sealed, so their contributions to the war effort remain little known and inaccessible to historians, and the women are not eligible for veterans benefits.

 

- In 1977, after the US Air Force announces the training of the “first ever” female pilots, an outcry from former WASPs will result in President Carter ordering a review followed by having the records declassified and veteran status granted.

 

WASPs leaving a B-17 they had just transported"

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years and 15 days ago] "• The RAF makes a two-stage incendiary raid on Dresden, which so far has escaped major bombing raids. Since it is intact, it has become an important transport, replacement, and supply hub for the German armies resisting the Soviets, who are only 70 miles away. The raid is to assist the Soviets and also demonstrate to them what Bomber Command is capable of.

 

- 254 Mosquitos, Lancasters and Halifaxes conduct the first wave, followed three hours later by 529 more, when firefighting services are expected to be out from shelter.

 

 

- Casualties on the ground are between 22,000 and 25,000. Six British bombers are lost. On the 14th more than three hundred B-17s will make a daylight strike on the Dresden rail yards with the loss of a single bomber. The Germans make good propaganda use of the civilian casualties and threaten to abandon the Geneva Conventions on the Western Front. There is debate in Parliament about the morality of such bombing, somewhat muted by the fact that V-2 rockets are still hitting London nearly every day.

 

- One Dresden survivor is Victor Klemperer, who in the chaos, removes the yellow star from his clothing and along with his wife joins a refugee column working its way west, eventually passing into the American lines."

 

[80 years ago today] "• Following a debate in Parliament over the morality of area bombing German cities, Churchill drafts a Memorandum:

 

“It seems to me that the moment has come when the question of bombing of German cities simply for the sake of increasing the terror, though under other pretexts, should be reviewed. Otherwise we shall come into control of an utterly ruined land… The destruction of Dresden remains a serious query against the conduct of Allied bombing. I am of the opinion that military objectives must henceforward be more strictly studied in our own interests than that of the enemy.”

 

- Bomber Command’s Sir Arthur Harris will respond tomorrow:

 

“This is a doctrine to which I could never subscribe. Attacks on cities like any other act of war are intolerable unless they are strategically justified. But they are strategically justified in so far as they tend to shorten the war and preserve the lives of Allied soldiers. To my mind we have absolutely no right to give them up unless it is certain that they will not have this effect. I do not personally regard the whole of the remaining cities of Germany as worth the bones of one British Grenadier.”

 

- Churchill will maintain that future bombings must “do no more harm to ourselves in the long run than they do to the enemy’s war effort.”