Description

This mission was intended to be the first major attack on the industrial area of Hamburg, Germany but weather and contrails made fromation flying too difficult and dangerous. As a result, the main formation 197 B-17s from: 91BG (18); 92BG (23); 303BG (25); 305BG (25); 306BG (23); 351BG (20); 379BG (20); 381BG (24); and 384BG (19) are forced to bomb targets of opportunity and German airfield an AA batteries in Wangerooge island. 2 B-17s attack a German ship convoy near the island. Of the 197 despatched 149 are effective on a target. Fighter opposition is heavy and the lack of tight formation among the bombers give the Germans ample opportunities to attack the bombers. 15 B-17 are MIA. The bomber gunners claim 46-8-27 of the enemy fighters. 

A second formation of 78 B-17s is despatched from: 94BG (15), 94BG (18); 96BG (26); and 100BG (19) to attack at Hamburg, Germany but this formation is widly scattered and only 18 of the 78 despatched are successful in finding a target to bomb. 94BG and 96BG do not bomb at all. The 18 that do drop focus on hitting a German ship convoy near Juist island. This is the first combat mission for 100BG and they suffer the loss of 3 of their B-17s, the only ones lost from this formation. The encounter fighters and the bombe gunners claim 16-3-3 of the enemy fighters.