DOCUMENT 53600

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401st Bomb Group, Mission No. 226, 11 Mar 1945, Bremen, Germany. Briefing took place at 0630 hours. Aircraft were loaded with 42 M-47 IB's. All operational aircraft were airborne by 1057 hours, but one ship made an emergency landing with one engine feathered. However, the crew immediately transferred to a ground spare and joined the formation. The two scheduled spares returned early, as there were no aborts. On this mission the 401st provided the three squadrons making up the 94th Combat Wing "C" Group. The primary target was once again covered by clouds, making it necessary to bomb using PFF (radar) techniques. While results could not be observed visually, later plotting gave good reason to believe that the results were good. No enemy aircraft were encountered, but flak, described as "meager and inaccurate", caused minor damage to seven of the Group's aircraft. In this case the 401st must have been in the wrong part of the sky because, of the 406 1st Air Division B-17's that attacked Bremen, only nine received battle damage, of which seven were sustained by the 401st! By 1640 hours all ships had landed from the mission. "Good fast landings!" according to Flying Control.

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Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Lady Luck
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 612th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Day and Night
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron 615th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Gambler's Choice
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 614th Bomb Squadron
A B-17 Flying Fortress of the 401st Bomb Group, airborne in spite of the flak hole ripped into its left wing. Printed caption on reverse: '56751 AC- BERLIN DAMAGE- Flak over Berlin, March 18 1945, during the more than 1300 heavy bomber attack on rail and industrial targets in the capital city of the Reich, was responsible for the torn wing tip on the US Eight AF Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. Intense anti-aircraft fire made things hot for the heavy bombers over the target. US Air Force Photo.'
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 615th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Bottle Baby
  • Unit: 401st Bomb Group 613th Bomb Squadron 615th Bomb Squadron

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