Date:	Tuesday 11 January 1944
Time:
Type:	Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress
Owner/operator:	358th BSqn /303rd BGp USAAF
Registration:	42-5360
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 10
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Horn, Nordrhein-Westfalen -   Germany
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Molesworth /AAF Sta.107 Cambridgeshire
Destination airport:

Narrative:
On 11 January 1944, during Eighth Air Force Mission 182 663 bombers and 592 escort fighters were dispatched against three aviation industry targets in Germany (Oschersleben, Halberstadt and Brunswick).

While the aircraft were airborne, the weather started closing in over English bases and a recall signal was issued. B/Gen. Robert F. Travis, 1st BD Air Commander of the 1st Bomber Division (who targeted Oschersleben and Halberstadt with 291 B-17s), continued on to the target. He later claimed he had never received the recall order. Most of the 2nd BD and 3nd BD aircraft, whose target was Brunswick, elected to return to England and seek targets of opportunity. Only one wing of 3rd BD continued to the target. This left the 1st BD with greater exposure to enemy fighter attacks, which were the most numerous in the air since the 14 October 1943 mission to Schweinfurt. It was estimated that 500 Luftwaffe fighters opposed the raid.

Good fighter support was provided by P-47s on the penetration and by P-51s over the target. P-47s were airborne to provide withdrawal support, but they obeyed the recall order to return to England and left the bombers to fend for themselves on their return trip.

American losses were 58 B-17s, 2 B-24s, 4 P-47s and 1 P-38 lost, 4 B-17s, 1 B-24 and 3 P-47s damaged beyond repair and 172 B-17s, 7 B-24s, 5 P-47s and 1 P-51 damaged. Human losses were 12 KIA, 34 WIA and 609 MIA German fighter claimed 104 B-17s, 9 B-24s, 5 P-47s, 2 P-51s and one Spitfire during this battle. 42 of the lost bombers belonged to the 1st BD, and 34 to the 177 B-17s dispatched to Oschersleben. US bomber gunners claimed 228-60-98 Luftwaffe aircraft and the escort 31-12-16. The Luftwaffe units involved in this battle lost 53 fighters shot down or damaged beyond repair, 31 more damaged, 38 KIA and 22 WIA.

The 303rd BG was one of the units dispatched to Oschersleben, the primary target being the A.G.O. Flugzeugwerke, A.G., and the secondary the FW-190 Assembly & Component Plant. It proved to be the most disastrous of 303rd BG(H) combat missions flown to date. The 303rd lost eleven of the 40 B-17s flying the mission, and 2 more crewmen were killed aboard one returning aircraft.

Luftwaffe attacks started over the Zuider Zee and intensified when US fighters left. Some of the German fighters attacked in groups of 15 to 30 aircraft. Over 300 enemy fighters were observed on single occasions. The 303rd BG crew reported that the Focke Wulfs carried belly tanks and attacked with them attached. They showed no hesitation in attacking the 1BD bombers with intense determination. Some fired rockets. A few appeared willing to ram a B-17.

Meager and fairly accurate flak was experienced on the bomb run, with intermittent inaccurate flak on the return trip. This was the first mission on which chaff was employed. It was largely ineffective because of an inadequate supply of chaff bundles and the inexperience of men dropping it. Bombing results were excellent. Lt. Col. Calhoun described the mission as "...the roughest he had been on - but it was worth it!" Many of the crews on the mission who lost friends, saw the injured suffering and the damage to their B-17s disagreed with this assessment and thought that the price was too costly.

One of the 303rd losses was the B-17F-50-BO 42-5360 "Old Faithful" VK-G of 358th BS, piloted by 2Lt. Harry A. Schwaebe. This aircraft was flying its 35th mission and had suffered heavy damage during the second Schweinfurt raid. It was shot down by German fighters. It peeled out of formation about 1110 hours and was last seen at 17,000 feet under control. No parachutes were reported by the other US crews. The ship crashed 200 m south of Horn, Kreis Lippe. The whole crew bailed out but one, Sgt. Russell O. Whitesell, did not survive. His death cause is unknown. The nine other crew were captured and taken prisoner.

Crew (MACR 1926):
2nd Lt Harry A. Schwaebe (pilot) POW
2nd Lt Harold F. Dumse (copilot) POW
2nd Lt Paul T. Degnan (navigator) POW
2nd Lt Wilburn W. Wiley (air bomber) POW
S/Sgt Roy Foreman (flight engineer) POW
T/Sgt Mark E. Tudor (radio) POW
Sgt Benjamin F. Harvey (ball turret gunner) POW
Sgt James F. Malcolm (left waist gunner) POW
Sgt Russell O. Whitesell (right waist gunner) KIA
Sgt George F. Iott (tail gunner) POW

It was the seventh mission of Schwaebe Crew (the first being on 11 December 1943). Whitesell was buried on the 17th in Detmold cemetery.

http://www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/098.pdf
http://paul.rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii/usaf/html/Jan.44.html
Luftwaffe claim lists by Tony Wood and Jim Perry (http://lesbutler.co.uk/claims/tonywood.htm)
“Osprey Aviation Elite Units 11: 303rd Bombardment Group”, by Andy Saunders, ISBN 1-84176-537-6
http://www.303rdbg.com/358schwaebe.html
[LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://www.spurensuche-owl.de/deutsch/absturzorte/kreis-lippe/stadt-horn/horn-11.01.1944/index.html]
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horn_(Horn-Bad_Meinberg)
http://www.maplandia.com/germany/nordrhein-westfalen/detmold/lippe/horn/

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
14-Nov-2015 18:03	gerard57	Added
11-Jan-2017 13:02	Laurent Rizzotti	Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Source, Narrative]
03-Feb-2020 20:35	stehlik49	Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Operator]
02-Apr-2020 10:20	Reno Raines	Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Operator]