24-3-45
150 Sqn (Hemswell – Lancaster I/III)
OPERATIONS: A daylight operation for the Squadron with the take off at mid- day calling for only ten aircraft from Squadron. Once again the target was an Oil Refinery in the Ruhr known as HARPENERWEG, just east of BOCHUM, in all comprising only an area of 200 yards square, necessitating concentrated and accurate bombing. All aircraft were successfully airborne by 13.00 hours and with excellent weather with clear skies set course on the scheduled time. The target was easily visibly identified and markers were on time. Bombing was extremely concentrated and shortly after bombing commenced, the target was completely obliterated by smoke, and the remaining bombing force was instructed by the Master Bomber to bomb the centre of the smoke as no markers could be seen. Enemy opposition from the surrounding towns and on the route was moderate though accurate, and four Squadron aircraft sustained flak damage P-Peter (F/O.Morris) on his 30th sortie failed to return, all other aircraft landed safely at Base.
ADDENDUM – Lancaster I PB853 IQ-P. Crew: F/O PH Morris KIA, F/S JC Davis KIA, F/S KA Kee RAAF KIA, F/S JH Gillies RAAF POW, F/S RL Masters RAAF KIA, F/S HH Bawden RAAF POW, F/S JN Griffin RAAF KIA. T/o Hemswell to bomb the Harbenerweg benzol plant.Crashed Witten-Herbede. All baled out safely but five had the tragic misfortune to be killed after being taken into custody. They now rest in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. One of the group implicated in the crime was sentenced to death, while a second received a fifteen year prison sentence.
BOMBER COMMAND
24 March 1945
The final phase of the land war opened on this day, with the amphibious crossing of the Rhine on the Wesel sector and the airborne landings among the enemy defences a few hours later. British Commandos captured Wesel in the early hours, just after the Bomber Command raid had left the defenders dead or too dazed to fight properly.
The weather remained good for further Bomber Command operations. It is interesting to observe that the Ruhr was still supplying fuel and munitions for the fighting front which was now only 15 miles away and that tactical bombing and strategic bombing were taking place almost side by side.
STERKRADE
177 aircraft – 155 Halifaxes, 16 Lancasters, 6 Mosquitoes – of 4 and 8 Groups attacked the railway yards so successfully that, according to Bomber Command, there was ‘complete destruction of a well packed marshalling yard’. No aircraft lost.
GLADBECK
175 aircraft – 153 Halifaxes, 16 Lancasters, 6 Mosquitoes – of 6 and 8 Groups attacked this town situated on the northern edge of the Ruhr and not far from the new battle area. The target was ‘devastated’. 1 Halifax lost.
BENZOL PLANTS
173 Lancasters and 12 Mosquitoes of 1, 6 and 8 Groups attacked the Harpenerweg plant at Dortmund and the Mathias Stinnes plant at Bottrop. 3 Lancasters were lost on the Dortmund raid.
Total effort for the day: 537 sorties, 4 aircraft (0.7 percent) lost.
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24/25 March 1945
MINOR OPERATIONS
67 Mosquitoes to Berlin, 8 to Nordheim and 2 which bombed both Berlin and Magdeburg on a ‘siren tour’, 38 R.C.M. sorties, 33 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.
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2nd TAF
As Operation 'Plunder' began, the Luftwaffe's fighters were now operating from airfields further back from the Rhine. Following the Allied approach to the river, I. and II./JG 27 had left the Rheine area, I Gruppe moving to Stormede on 19th, and II. Gruppe to Bad Lippspringe two days later, while III Gruppe had moved to Gutersloh from Hesepe on 18th. Only IV Gruppe remained at its base at Achmer, but on 21 March this unit was disbanded. Stab and I./JG 26 were still at Fürstenau, II. Gruppe at Nordhorn, III. Gruppe at Delmenhorst and IV. Gruppe at Varrelbusch, but all were getting ready to go. The bombing of the Luftwaffe airfields which formed part of the preparations for 'Plunder, would destroy three of IV./JG 26's Dora-9s on the ground at Varrelbusch during the day.
83 Group's fighter-bombers were now ready to respond immediately to calls for assistance from the 'control cars' accompanying Second Army's units, but during the initial crossings little was seen of the opposing fighters. As Second TAF's units sought to provide all possible air support, Flak was, as so often, the main danger to pilots. It was, not surprisingly perhaps, the Typhoon Wings of this Group which took the main brunt of the punishment on this opening day. 124 Wing's Wing Leader, 'Kit' North-Lewis, crash-landed after his aircraft was hit, but he was back next day. He had been captured and held overnight, but feeling that they had no hope of escape from the advancing Allies, his German captors then gave themselves up, ensuring his release.
In this Wing 137 Squadron also suffered one loss, when Flg Off R.A.Edgley baled out and was killed. 247 Squadron was one of the units endeavouring to keep down the heads of the German Flak gunners as the Dakotas arrived overhead carrying the airborne forces. In doing so, however, the unit lost two aircraft, both pilots surviving crash-landings, one near Kleve and the other near Wesel. 121 and 143 Wings lost another four Typhoons, but only Flg Off W. Anderson of 439 Squadron failed to survive.
In 84 Group, 146 Wing's units carried out attacks on enemy headquarters at Zelham, Halle and Kreidenberg but also lost two Typhoons, one to engine failure. The other pilot, Flt Lt J.Harrison, RAAF, baled out among the gliders scattered in their landing zone; being tall and fair, (and wearing a German belt!) he was at first taken to be a German. He did, however, eventually persuade his American hosts that he was an Allied officer, was given a rifle and joined in the battle. When British armour broke through he hitched rides, arriving back with his unit on the 26th. According to the 146 Wing history, the USAAF used 1,112 para-dropping and glider-towing aircraft and lost 45 of them to Flak, whereas the RAF lost only six out of 440. The relatively low RAF losses were put down to the anti-Flak fighter- bombers and the artillery barrage.
The Tempest and Spitfire units were heavily involved in escorting the troop transports, but one 80 Squadron aircraft was brought down south-east of Helmond by Flak, the pilot carrying out a forced-landing. He was Sqn Ldr J.A.A.Gibson, DSO, DFC, a New Zealander who had been very successful during 1940 and who had just returned from a tour of operations with the RNZAF in the Solomon Islands. He had recently joined 80 Squadron as a supernumary to gain current experience. The broken shoulder he sustained led to his evacuation to the UK and put an end to any further operational flying before the war ended.
No pilot losses were suffered by the Spitfire units on this date, but three Canadian and three Polish aircraft were damaged by Flak or were written off in accidents.
From its new base in 84 Group, 274 Squadron sent out three Tempests to strafe Plantlünne airfield at 0600, but here Flt Lt R.C.Kennedy was shot down by Flak and killed when his aircraft crashed as he was trying to bale out. Flt Lt J.B.Stark also failed to return, later being reported to have lost his life.
By night the Luftwaffe was in evidence again, and at 2035 Flt Lt L.J.Leppard/Flt Lt P.J.Houghton in a Mosquito XIII of 604 Squadron intercepted a Bf 109 of III/NJG 11 which was claimed shot down in the Haltern area. There would be more successes in the early hours of the next day.
USAAF
AUSTRIA: Twelfth Air Force B-25s attack bridges at Muhlberg and Steinach.
CZECHOSLOVAKIA: Fifteenth Air Force heavy bombers attack a marshalling yard.
GERMANY: Throughout the day—in support of Operation VARSITY, the Anglo-American airborne assault across the Rhine River—1st Air Division B-17s mount 706 effective bombing sorties and 3d Air Division B-17s mount 625 effective bombing sorties against numerous GAF airfields and bases throughout northern and northwestern Germany. Also, VIII Fighter Command fighters mount 1,297 effective sorties throughout the day. Five B-17s and nine fighters are lost.
Beginning at 1000 hours—following intensive clearing attacks by USAAF fighters, including attacks on flak concentrations and airfields—paratroopers and glider-borne forces of the British 6th and U.S. 17th Airborne divisions taking part in Operation VARSITY are dropped into landing zones around Wesel by 2,029 IX Troop Carrier Command C-47s and gliders and 839 RAF aircraft and gliders. The landings are supported by low-level supply drops conducted by 240 2d Air Division B-24s and by an attack on nearby Nordhorn Airdrome by 58 466th Heavy Bombardment Group B-24s. Fourteen B-24s are lost, mostly to small-arms fire, while dropping supplies. Thirty-nine C-47s are downed by flak, one C-47 is lost in an accident, and six C-47s are lost to unknown causes.
9th Air Division bombers mount 688 effective sorties against flak concentrations, rail bridges, communications centers, and many tactical targets in and around the Operation VARSITY battle area. Throughout the day, Ninth Air Force fighters and fighter-bombers mount 2,039 effective sorties in direct support Allied ground forces and mount attacks to block access to the battle area by German reinforcements.
Eighth, Ninth, and First Tactical air force fighter pilots down a Ju-87 and 64 GAF fighters over Germany between 0244 and 1855 hours. Capt Clyde B. East, an F-6 pilot with the 10th Photographic Reconnaissance Group’s 15th Reconnaissance Squadron, achieves ace status when he downs two Ju-87s near Eisenach at 0945 hours; LtCol John A. Storch, the commanding officer of the 357th Fighter Group’s 364th Fighter Squadron, in P-51s, brings his final personal tally to 10.5 confirmed victories when he downs a Bf-109 near Gutersloh Airdrome at 1210 hours; Capt Paul R. Hatala, a P-51 pilot with the 357th Fighter Group’s 364th Fighter Squadron, achieves ace status when he downs two Bf-109s over Gutersloh Airdrome at 1215 hours; Maj Robert W. Foy, the 357th Fighter Group operations officer, brings his final personal tally to 15 confirmed victories when he downs a Bf-109 near Gutersloh Airdrome at 1220 hours; Maj Robert A. Elder, the commanding officer of the 354th Fighter Group’s 353d Fighter Squadron, in P-51s, becomes an “ace in a day” when he downs four FW-190s and a Bf-109 near Kassel between 1530 and 1600 hours; Capt Raymond E. Hartley, Jr., a P-51 pilot with the 353d Fighter Group’s 350th Fighter Squadron, achieves ace status when he downs two FW-190s and a Bf-109 near Kassel between 1530 and 1600 hours (Hartley’s two earlier victories were scored while he was serving with the Fifteenth Air Force); and in the same engagement, LtCol Wayne K. Blickenstaff, the commanding officer of the 350th Fighter Squadron, brings his final personal tally to ten confirmed victories when he downs three FW-190s and two Bf-109s.
Two hundred seventy-one Fifteenth Air Force B-24s destroy whatever remains of the Neuberg jet-aircraft factory as well as an estimated 20 jet aircraft parked on the adjacent airdrome.
More than 150 Fifteenth Air Force B-17s attack the Daimler-Benz tank-engine factory in Berlin. This is the Fifteenth’s first mission to the German capital, a round trip exceeding 1,500 miles. On this mission, four B-17s are downed by flak near Brux, Czechoslovakia; a fifth is downed during the approach to the target when the bomber formation is attacked by 15 Me-262s; and a sixth is downed over the target by flak. While defending the bombers over the target, Col William Daniel, the 31st Fighter Group commanding officer, achieves ace status when he downs one of the Me-262s and damages another. In all, eight of the GAF jets are downed between 1220 and 1250 by 31st and 332d Fighter group P-51 pilots. Fifteenth Air Force heavy bombers also attack airdromes at Erding, Munich, and Plattling.
ITALY: Fifteenth Air Force heavy bombers attack the airfield complex at Udine; Twelfth Air Force B-25s attack bridges and bridge approaches at six locations; and XXII TAC P-47s attack rail lines throughout northern Italy.
LtGen John K. Cannon replaces Gen Ira C. Eaker as commanding general of the Army Air Forces in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (AAFMTO), and it is announced that he will be assuming command of MAAF.
During the night of March 24–25, XXII TAC A-20s and A-26s attack road and rail targets, and crossing points in the Po River valley.
BASE CHANGES
350 Sqn (Spitfire XIV) moves to Warmwell
FIRST AND LAST OPERATIONAL MISSIONS
76 Sqn (Holme-on-Spalding Moor) flies its first OM in the Halifax VI
542 Sqn (Benson) flies its last OM in the Spitfire PRXIX
