March 1945
Mission #168
1 March 1945
Target: Moosbierbaum, Austria (Red)
17 aircraft with 1 early return dropped 24.0 tons of bombs with 1 losses and 11 casualties.
35 of our aircraft took off to bomb an important industrial target at Moosbierbaum, but because of 10/10 undercast it was necessary to bomb by instruments. No results were observed, but a good run was made and good results were expected. 51 tons of bombs were dropped on the target and one ship failed to return.
Mission #168
1 March 1945
Target: Moosbierbaum, Austria (Blue)
18 aircraft with 0 early return dropped 27.0 tons of bombs with 0 losses and 1 casualties.
35 of our aircraft took off to bomb an important industrial target at Moosbierbaum, but because of 10/10 undercast it was necessary to bomb by instruments. No results were observed, but a good run was made and good results were expected. 51 tons of bombs were dropped on the target and one ship failed to return.
Mission #169
2 March 1945
Target: Linz, Austria
28 aircraft with 1 early return dropped 53.0 tons of bombs with 0 losses and 0 casualties.
28 of our aircraft took off to bomb the Linz Benzol Plant in Austria. Again it became necessary to bomb by PFF methods due to 10/10 undercast. 53 tons of bombs were dropped a little left of the course, but in the target area. Despite the short bomb run good results were obtained.
Mission #170
4 March 1945
Target: Graz, Austria
33 aircraft with 3 early return dropped 56.75 tons of bombs with 1 losses and 10 casualties.
33 of our aircraft took off to bomb the Graz main M/Y in Austria. This attack was of vital importance to further disrupt the already disorganized rail system from Vienna to the Hungarian front and south to Yugoslavia. The run on the target was started by PFF methods but was picked up visually in time for the bombardier to make necessary corrections. 59.5 tons of bombs were dropped and bomb strike photos showed a tight concentration of bombs on the target. One of our aircraft was lost.
Mission #171
8 March 1945
Target: Hegyeshalom, Hungary (Red)
19 aircraft with 5 early return dropped 25.75 tons of bombs with 0 losses and 0 casualties.
39 of our aircraft took off to bomb the RR cars at Hegyeshalom marshalling yard in Hungary. Again the importance of this attack was the disruption and disorganization of military supplies and traffic enroute to the front and its destruction would be an effective support for the Russian ground troops. Two forces were flown this day and good results were obtained by both. 57.25 tons of bombs were dropped.
Mission #171
8 March 1945
Target: Hegyeshalom, Hungary (Blue)
20 aircraft with 3 early return dropped 33.5 tons of bombs with 0 losses and 0 casualties.
Mission #172
9 March 1945
Target: Bruck, Austria (Red)
18 aircraft with 1 early return dropped 26.75 tons of bombs with 0 losses and 0 casualties.
33 aircraft took off to bomb Bruck M/Y, but due to adverse weather conditions it became necessary to bomb the alternate, Graz statiopn and M/Y. This was bombed in two units with nine ship fronts. Handicapped by 10/10 undercast PFF methods were employed. Difficulty was encountered by both units on the bomb run and no results were observed, but in spite of this results were believed to have been good. 80.25 tons of bombs were dropped.
Mission #172
9 March 1945
Target: Bruck, Austria (Blue)
20 aircraft with 0 early return dropped 43.5 tons of bombs with 0 losses and 0 casualties.
Mission #173
12 March 1945
Target: Florisdorf, Austria
39 aircraft with 3 early return dropped 62.0 tons of bombs with 0 losses and 0 casualties.
39 of our aircraft were dispatched to bomb the remnants of the Florisdorf Oil Refinery. Complete cloud cover 10/10 was encountered over the target and it was necessary to bomb by instruments. 62 tons of bombs were dropped and no results were observed.
Mission #174
13 March 1945
Target: Regensburg, Germany
28 aircraft with 0 early return dropped 48.25 tons of bombs with 0 losses and 0 casualties.
28 of our aircraft took off to bomb the Regensburg M/Y in Germany. Again due to complete cloud cover over the target it was necessary to bomb by PFF methods. 48.25 tons of bombs were dropped with results unobserved.
Mission #175
14 March 1945
Target: Weiner Neustadt, Austria
34 aircraft with 0 early return dropped 82.5 tons of bombs with 1 losses and 10 casualties.
34 of our aircraft were dispatched to bomb rolling stock in the Bruck M/Y, but due to adverse weather conditions it became necessary to bomb an alternate target, Weiner Neustadt M/Y in Austria. On reaching the latter 10/10 cloud cover was encountered which made it necessary to employ PFF synchronous bombing methods. 82.5 tons of bombs were dropped. No results were observed and one of our aircraft is missing.
Mission #176
15 March 1945
Target: Pragersko, Yugoslavia
37 aircraft with 0 early return dropped 72.5 tons of bombs with 0 losses and 0 casualties.
37 of our aircraft took off to bomb Schwechat Oil Refinery but weather again forced the group to turn to an alternate, Weiner Neustadt M/Y in Austria. PFF methods were used extensively for navigation and not until a sudden break in the clouds identifying the IP, were instrument methods abandoned and the bombing done by visual methods. 72.5 tons of bombs were dropped. Excellent results were obtained and fires were burning fiercely when our planes left.
Mission #177
16 March 1945
Target: Moosbierbaum, Austria
34 aircraft with 1 early return dropped 58.75 tons of bombs with 0 losses and 0 casualties.
35 of our aircraft took off to bomb the Moosbierbaum Oil Refinery in Austria. On this date Moosbierbaum was one of five remaining refineries producing in the Vienna area and our objectivbe was to destroy the remining producing facilities and hamper the repair of the others previously damaged. Flak encountered was intense, heavy and accurate, resulting in 11 minor and 2 major damage to our ships, but all returned in spite of this. 62.75 tons of bombs were dropped with good results.
Mission #178
19 March 1945
Target: Muhldorf, Germany
39 aircraft with 0 early return dropped 76.0 tons of bombs with 0 losses and 0 casualties.
For the first time during the month weather enroute to the target and return wasclear. 39 of our aircraft took off to bomb rolling stock in the Muhldorf M/Y. Some difficulty was experienced on the bomb run due to smoke from fires and bombs of previous group but aiming points were picked up before bombs away. Good results were obtained and 74.9 tons of bombs were dropped. All aircraft returned safely.
Mission #179
20 March 1945
Target: Wels, Austria
40 aircraft with 1 early return dropped 76.5 tons of bombs with 0 losses and 0 casualties.
40 of our aircraft took off to bomb rolling stock in the Wels east M/Y in Austria. Again enjoying clear weather enroute to the target and return. No difficulty was experienced on the bomb run. 78.5 tons of bombs were dropped with excellent results. The target was completely saturated, destroying the round house, trains of cars were left burning and many explosions were seen. All of our aircraft returned safely.
Mission #180
21 March 1945
Target: Bruck, Austria
38 aircraft with 1 early return dropped 89.5 tons of bombs with 0 losses and 4 casualties.
On this date the Bruck M/Y in Austria had been originally briefed as the primary target, but due to adverse weather conditions encountered near and over the target it became necessary to break up the formation with the result: two boxes bombed the primary with excellent results, one box bombed the Villach North M/Y with good results, and the entire secondattack unit bombed Pragersko M/Y leaving fires burning fiercely. A total of 38 aircraft were dispatched dropping a total of 89.5 tons of bombs on the primary and two alternates.
Mission #181
22 March 1945
Target: Kagran, Austria
29 aircraft with 3 early return dropped 62.0 tons of bombs with 1 losses and 10 casualties.
29 of our aircraft were dispatched to bomb the Kagran Oil Refinery located just north of the city of Vienna. After our previous attack on Moosbierbaum, Kagran was one of the four remaining refineries to destroy. 62.25 tons of bombs were dropped with good results. Flak encountered over the target was intense, accurate and heavy with over three quarters of the formation receiving major or minor damage. One aircraft failed to return as a result of this.
Mission #182
23 March 1945
Target: Kagran, Austria
34 aircraft with 4 early return dropped 65.25 tons of bombs with 4 losses and 21 casualties.
Despite the previous day's attack on Kagran, further accurate bombing was deemed necessary to accomplish the objective - the complete destruction of this refinery. A total of 34 aircraft were dispatched dropping 60.75 tons of bombs on the area. One explosion was seen. Again as in the previous day's mission, flak encountered was intense, accurate and heavy. As a result of this, every ship in the group received major or minor damage. Our losses were two aircraft.
Mission #183
24 March 1945
Target: Budejovice, Czechoslovakia
29 aircraft with 1 early return dropped 55.0 tons of bombs with 0 losses and 0 casualties.
29 aircraft were dispatched to bomb the Budejovice M/Y where supplies moving from Germany to Vienna had been accumulating as a result of the recent attacks on the main lines. 55 tons of bombs were dropped short, but walked into the yard completely destroying the round house.
Mission #184
25 March 1945
Target: Praha, Czechoslovakia
27 aircraft with 1 early return dropped 44.5 tons of bombs with 0 losses and 0 casualties.
Our objective was destruction of ME-262 jet propelled aircraft at Prague/Kbely airdrome. 27 aircraft were dispatched and identification of the target was difficult due to the surrounding terrain, smoke and haze. But definite checkpoints were identified before bombs away and 45 tons of frag cluster bombs were dropped in ten target areas with good results. No ships were lost.
Mission #185
26 March 1945
Target: Straszhof, Austria
28 aircraft with 1 early return dropped 53.0 tons of bombs with 0 losses and 0 casualties.
28 aircraft were dispatched to bomb the Straszhof M/Y. The attack was made by boxes, in trail, dropping 53 tons of bombs with good results. Flak damage was minor and all our aircraft returned safely.
Mission #185
Mission #186
30 March 1945
Target: Vienna, Austria
4 aircraft with 4 early return dropped 6.0 tons of bombs with 0 losses and 0 casualties.
On this date 4 aircraft were dispatched to make lone wolf attacks on the Vienna North Station Good depot, but due to adverse weather conditions, it became necessary to abandon the primary and turn to an alternate, Graz M/Y. 1.5 tons of bombs fell on the yard with fairly good results.
Mission #187
31 March 1945
Target: Linz, Austria
28 aircraft with 2 early return dropped 39.0 tons of bombs with 0 losses and 0 casualties.
28 of our aircraft took off to bomb the Linz Benzol plant in Austria. Dur to 8/10 cloud cover in the target area, a combination of PFF and offset bombing was employed. By checkpoint identified in the target area on the bomb run, a good concentration of bombs on the target was obtained. Intense, accurate and heavy flak was encountered in the target area and half the formation received minor damage. 39 tons of bombs were dropped and all of our aircraft returned safely.