ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 113903
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| Date: | Thursday 1 March 1945 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  North American P-51D-15 Mustang |
| Owner/operator: | 356th FGp USAAF |
| Registration: | 44-15185 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Monewden, Suffolk, England -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | |
On 1 March 1945, during Eighth Air Force Mission 857, 1,228 bombers and 488 fighters were dispatched to attack marshalling yards in central and southern Germany; 3 plants suspected of manufacturing Me 262 jet engine parts could not be attacked due to clouds; most attacks were made using H2X radar:
1. 452 B-17s were sent to hit marshalling yards at Bruchsal (115), Reutlingen (69), Neckarsulm (85), Heilbronn (107) and Gottingen (36); 25 hit Heidelberg, the secondary target; some visual attacks were made; 27 B-17s were damaged. Escorting were 92 of 100 P-51s; 2 were lost (pilots MIA) and 2 damaged beyond repair.
2. 253 of 321 B-24s bombed the Ingolstadt marshalling yard; 62 others hit the secondary target, Augsburg; 1 B-24 was damaged beyond repair. 181 of 194 P-51s escorted claiming 1-0-0 aircraft in the air; 1 P-51 was lost (pilot MIA).
3. 420 of 449 B-17s hit the marshalling yard at Ulm; 2 others hit a target of opportunity; some attacks were visual; 2 B-17s were damaged beyond repair and 3 damaged; 16 airmen were KIA and 2 WIA. The escort was 147 of 152 P-51s; they claimed 1-0-0 aircraft in the air and 9-0-7 on the ground; 3 P-51s were lost (pilots MIA).
4. 6 B-24s flew a screening mission without loss.
5. 31 of 32 P-51s flew a scouting mission.
6. 9 of 10 P-51s escorted 8 F-5s on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany.
______________________________________
This mission was the 357th of the 356th FG. Major Strait led a penetration-target-withdrawal support mission. The group started to take off at 1152 hrs, each squadron providing 16 P-51s and 2 spares. Lt Lucien O Sonnier, one of the spare pilots of 359th FS, had an engine fire on take-off and safely bailed out from his P-51D-15 44-15185 OC-D "T-Lou" near Monewden. The rest of the group rendezvoused at 1330 hrs north of Colmar with the bombers. Two flights of 361st FS broke in the target area and swept without incident to Nuremberg and Schweinfurt. Lt Walter O Hedrick of 360th FS bailed out of his P-41D-5 44-11156 near Strasbourg, badly injured a leg, and spent the last weeks of the war as a prisoner.
Sources:
"The 356th Fighter Group in World War II. In Action over Europe with the P-47 and P-51", by Kent D. Miller. ISBN 0-7643-1768-7
http://paul.rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/Mar.45.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monewden
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=52.179000&lon=1.274000&z=11&m=b
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 04-Mar-2016 18:53 | Laurent Rizzotti | Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Phase, Source, Narrative] |
| 22-Apr-2020 16:30 | Reno Raines | Updated [Operator, Location, Operator] |
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