I am continuing my series of articles based on the entries from Kit C. Carter and Robert Mueller’s U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II Combat Chronology 1941 – 1945 and Jack McKillop’s USAAF Chronology: Combat Chronology of the US Army Air Forces. Both combat chronologies are excellent sources of information regarding combat missions in World War II and I thank the authors for sharing them online.
These articles are concentrated on the operations of the 8th Army Air Forces on the missions on which the John Oliver Buslee crew and James Joseph Brodie crew of the 384th Bomb Group participated. The statistics of other dates and missions and of other branches of the American Air Forces and theaters of operation of World War II are available through the links provided in this article to these two sources for those interested.
Today’s installment is the 16 August 1944 mission in which the Brodie crew participated.
WWII Combat Chronology – Wednesday, 16 August 1944
384th BG Mission 181/8th AF Mission 556 to Delitzsch, Germany.
Target: German Air Force (Luftwaffe), the Delitzsch Air Field and Air Equipment Depot.
The James Joseph Brodie crew of the 545th Bomb Squadron participated in this mission. The John Oliver Buslee crew of the 544th Bomb Squadron did not participate.
Carter and Mueller’s U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II Combat Chronology 1941 – 1945 entry:
Over 950 HBs attack 11 oil refineries, aircraft plants and several T/Os in C Germany. 16 ftr gps fly over 600 spt sorties. 24 HBs are lost. Ftrs claim 32 air victories.
Jack McKillop’s USAAF Chronology: Combat Chronology of the US Army Air Forces entry:
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown:
- Mission 556, visual attacks on oil refineries and aircraft plants in Germany. The Brodie crew participated in this mission.
- Mission 557, a leaflet drop in France during the night.
Mission 556: 1,090 bombers and 692 fighters are dispatched to make visual attacks on oil refineries and aircraft plants in C Germany; 23 bombers and 3 fighters are lost (number in parenthesis indicate number of bombers attacking):
-
425 B-17s are dispatched to hit Delitzsch air depot (102), the aviation industry at Schkeuditz (92) and Halle (60) and the oil industry at Bohlen (88); other targets are Naumburg (15), Halberstadt Airfield (13) and targets of opportunity (9); they claim 6-4-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; 10 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 234 damaged; 4 airmen are KIA, 9 WIA and 93 MIA. Escort is provided by 246 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 15-1-3 aircraft in the air and 0-0-3 on the ground; 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair; 1 pilot is WIA.
-
234 B-17s are dispatched to hit the oil industry at Rositz (105) and Zeitz (101); 3 others hit targets of opportunity; 6 B-17s are lost and 88 damaged; 3 airmen are WIA and 56 MIA. Escort is provided by 166 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 5-0-1 aircraft; 2 P-47s are lost (pilots are MIA).
-
65 B-24s are dispatched to Halberstadt Airfield (51); 10 others hit Quedlinburg Airfield and 1 hits a targets of opportunity; 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 8 damaged. Escort is provided by 42 of 46 P-38s without loss.
-
366 B-24s are dispatched to hit the aviation industry at Dessau (99), Kothen (71) and Magdeburg/Neustadt (67) and the oil industry at Magdeburg/Rothensee; 2 others hit targets of opportunity; 7 B-24s are lost and 173 damaged; 5 airmen are WIA and 66 MIA. Escort is provided by 156 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 12-0-0 aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot is MIA).
Links/Sources
- Kit C. Carter and Robert Mueller’s U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II Combat Chronology 1941 – 1945
- Jack McKillop’s Combat Chronology of the US Army Air Forces
Except for entries from Carter and Mueller’s U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II Combat Chronology 1941 – 1945 and McKillop’s Combat Chronology of the US Army Air Forces © Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2021
The Arrowhead Club 