DOCUMENT 53598

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401st Bomb Group, Mission No. 227, 12 March 1945, Swinemunde, Germany. Briefing took place at 0440 hours, pilots being briefed for low visibility take-off procedures. All aircraft were loaded with five 1,000 pound bombs and 2,780 gallons of gas. All aircraft were off by 0832, and two spares returned early as there were no aborts. The 401st flew as the 94th Combat Wing "C" Group on this very long mission to the port of Swinemunde on the Baltic Sea. The weather again failed to cooperate; the Group found the target blanketed by 10/10ths cloud cover. However, because the target was located along the shoreline of the Baltic Sea, the PFF operators had an ideal opportunity to locate prime targets, and subsequent evaluations by the 1st Air Division confirmed that the bombs had been dropped to good effect. The only enemy opposition consisted of meager and inaccurate flak. The 401st suffered no battle damage, and of the 650 B-17's that attacked Swinemunde only one was missing in action and six others suffered damage. All operational aircraft had returned by 1702 hours.

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Units

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Shade Ruff #2
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 614th Bomb Squadron
Factory fresh B-17s
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Aw Come On
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 615th Bomb Squadron
French prisoners of war await transport home in a B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 42-97931) nicknamed "Madame Queen" of the 401st Bomb Group. Handwritten caption on reverse: 'French POW's flown back to France after war. IN-Q then IW-A "Madame Queen".'
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Madame queen
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 614th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Tagalong, Duke's Mixture
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 614th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Day and Night
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron 615th Bomb Squadron

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Mission

Revisions

Date:
Contributoracbernstein1
ChangesCreated entry with caption, unit associations, place associations, aircraft associations and mission associations