DOCUMENT 53601
401st Bomb Group, Mission No. 225, 10 Mar 1945, Hagen, Germany. The Group was briefed at 0615 hours. Aircraft were loaded with thirty-four 100 pound GP's plus 2 M17 IB's. Group assembly was set for 14,000 feet over Cottesmore Buncher. Shortly after taking off, one ship reported two engines out and requested emergency landing. The pilot came in on Runway 10 with little wind and "pretty hot", running off the end of the runway. Ship and crew were OK, however, and they quickly transferred to a ground spare and had taken off again by 1011 hours. The three squadrons of the 401st made up the 94th Combat Wing "A" Group on this mission. Because of 10/10ths cloud cover, the target was bombed by Gee-H(radio beam) techniques, with unobserved results. The only enemy opposition consisted of some inaccurate and meager flak over the target and in the Munster area. All operational aircraft but one had returned from the mission by 1714 hours. The missing ship was thought to have landed at Bircham Newton, low on fuel, but finally showed up at Deenethorpe at 1740 hours, not having landed anywhere else.
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Units
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: You All Right, Der Grossarschvogel
- Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Snicklefritz
- Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Little Cheezer
- Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron 615th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Satisfaction Guaranteed
- Unit: 401st Bomb Group 612th Bomb Squadron