The 214 Sqdn left from Oulton at 1945-02-09 at 3:29. Loc or duty BS
He flew with a B-17 Flying Fortress (type III , serial HB796 , code BU-T).
Campaign report of the USAAF:
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force):: Mission 824: 1,296 bombers and 871 fighters in 6 forces hit oil targets in Germany; except where noted, attacks were made with PFF; they claim 61-4-22 Luftwaffe aircraft; 8 bombers and 5 fighters are lost:
1. 313 B-24s are sent to hit the Rothensee oil plant at Magdeburg (10); 268 hit the secondary target, the marshalling yard at Magdeburg; targets of opportunity are Tarchen (9) and Quackenbruck Airfield (1); the Magdeburg attacks are made using H2X; they claim 0-0-1 aircraft; 3 B-24s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 51 damaged; 14 airmen are KIA, 5 WIA and 20 MIA.
Escorting are 151 of 173 P-51s; they claim 9-0-5 aircraft in the air and 1-0-0 on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA).
2. 198 of 311 B-17s hit the secondary target, the munitions industry at Weimar; targets of opportunity are the marshalling yards at Giessen (25) and Gottingen (15), the munitions industry at Eisenach (11), Jena (11) and Fulda (24) and other (4); attacks are made using H2X and visually; they claim 0-0-1 aircraft; 3 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 7 damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 28 MIA.
The escort is 271 of 274 P-51s; they claim 8-1-3 aircraft in the air and 2-0-9 on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair.
3. 304 B-17s are dispatched to the oil plants at Lutzkendorf (233); 12 hit the secondary target, Erfurt; targets of opportunity are Eisenach (13, using H2X radar), Eisleben (13), Montesada (11) and other (3); all attacks except 1 were visual; 1 B-17 is lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 64 damaged; 6 airmen are KIA, 3 WIA and 26 MIA.
193 of 215 P-51s escort and claim 2-1-0 aircraft in the air and 34-0-3 on the ground; 3 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair.
4. 64 of 65 B-24s hit the Schildesche rail viaduct at Bielefeld using Gee-H without loss.
39 of 40 P-47s escort without loss.
5. 151 B-17s are sent to hit the Altenbeken rail viaduct at Paderborn (72) and the Arnsberg rail viaduct (75) using Gee-H; 1 B-17 is lost and 1 damaged.
47 of 53 P-51s escort without loss.
6. 107 of 152 B-17s hit the secondary target, oil plants at Dulmen using Micro H; 21 hit a target of opportunity, the marshalling yard at Munster with H2X radar; 10 B-17s are damaged.
Escorting are 55 of 60 P-51s without loss.
7. 33 of 35 P-51s fly a scouting mission; they claim 5-1-0 aircraft in the air without loss.
8 20 of 21 P-51s escort photo reconnaissance missions over Germany.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 347 A-20s, A-26s, and B-26s bomb communications centers at Viersen and Kempen, marshalling yards at Rheydt, Grevenbroich, and Viersen, and rail bridges at Neuwied-Irlich and Sinzig.
Fighters fly armed reconnaissance over the E and W of the Rhine River, attack rail bridges, and support US XII Corps bridgeheads across the Our and Sauer Rivers.
In France, HQ 323d Bombardment Group (Medium) and the 453d, 454th, 455th and 456th Bombardment Squadrons move from Athies Airfield, Laon to Prouvy Airfield, Denain and Valenciennes (454th) with B-26s; HQ 410th Bombardment Group (Light) and the 644th, 645th, 646th and 647th Bombardment Squadrons (Light) move from Coulommiers to Juvincourt with A-20s; and the 669th Bombardment Squadron (Light), 416th Bombardment Group (Light) moves from Melun to Athies Airfield, Laon with A-26s.
HQ 405th Fighter Group and the 511th Fighter Squadron move from St Dizier, France to Ophoven, Belgium with P-47s.
Campaign report of the RAF:
8/9 February 1945
Politz: 475 Lancasters and 7 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 5 and 8 Groups. 12 Lancasters lost, l of them coming down in Sweden. The attack took place in 2 waves, the first being marked and carried out entirely by the No 5 Group method and the second being marked by the Pathfinders of No 8 Group. The weather conditions were clear and the bombing of both waves was extremely accurate. Severe damage was caused to this important synthetic-oil plant. It produced no further oil during the war. Speer mentioned this raid, in his post-war interrogations, as being another big setback to Germany's war effort.
Wanne-Eickel: 228 aircraft - 200 Halifaxes, 20 Mosquitos, 8 Lancasters - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups. 2 Halifaxes crashed in France. This raid was not a success. The local report says that the bombing was scattered, with only light damage to the oil refinery.
Krefeld: 151 Lancasters of No 3 Group attacked the Hohenbudberg railway yards but photographic reconnaissance was unable to detect any new damage. 2 Lancasters lost.
47 Mosquitos to Berlin, 9 to Neubrandenburg (a 'spoof' for the Politz raid) and 4 to Nuremberg, 47 RCM sorties, 42 Mosquito patrols, 10 Lancasters of No 5 Group minelaying off Swinemünde. 1 RCM Halifax lost.
Total effort for the night: 1,020 sorties, 17 aircraft (1.7 per cent) lost.
9 February 1945
1 Halifax flew an RCM sortie.
9/10 February 1945
7 Stirlings of No 3 Group flew on Resistance operations but none were able to carry out their tasks (the reasons were not recorded) and 1 Stirling was lost. 1 Mosquito flew an RCM sortie.
With thanks to the RAF and USAAF.net
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