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 26 September 1944 mission in which the Brodie crew participated.
WWII Combat Chronology – Tuesday, 26 September 1944
384th BG Mission 199/8th AF Mission 648 to Osnabrück, Germany.
Target: Industry, Steelworks.
The James Joseph Brodie crew of the 545th Bomb Squadron participated in this mission.
Carter and Mueller’s U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II Combat Chronology 1941 – 1945 entry:
400 B-17’s bomb 2 M/Ys, 2 aircraft plants, a steel works, and 2 A/Fs at Osnabruck, Hamm, Bremen, Rheine, and Hesepe, plus 3 T/Os in NW Germany. 9 P-51 gps fly escort. 8 ftr gps, including 2 attached from Ninth AF, spt First Allied Airborne Army, claiming 32 ftrs destroyed in combat. Over 160 B-24’s fly fuel to France.
Jack McKillop’s USAAF Chronology: Combat Chronology of the US Army Air Forces entry:
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Two missions are flown:
- Mission 648 to rail targets and armored vehicle factories in W Germany. The Brodie crew participated in this mission.
- Mission 649, a leaflet drop in France, the Netherlands, and Germany during the night.
Also, P-38s (from the Ninth AF), P-47s and P-51s support the First Allied Airborne Army in the Netherlands. B-24s fly a TRUCKIN’ mission carrying fuel to France. HQ 361st Fighter Group moves from Bottisham to Little Walden, England.
Mission 648: 1,159 bombers and 432 fighters are dispatched to hit rail targets and armored vehicle factories in W Germany; 9 bombers and 2 fighters are lost.
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422 B-17s are dispatched to hit the marshalling yard and steel industry at Osnabruck (383); other targets hit are Rheine Airfield (10), Hesepe Airfield (3) and others (4): 2 B-17s are lost and 101 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 2 WIA and 18 MIA. Escort is provided by 134 of 144 P-51s; they claim 2-0-3 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair.
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274 of 317 hit the marshalling yard at Hamm and 1 hits Liesborn; 3 B-24s are lost and 53 damaged; 31 airmen are MIA. Escort is provided by 138 of 146 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA).
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420 B-17s are dispatched to hit armored vehicle factories at Bremen (381); other targets hit are Bremerhaven (13) and other (1); 4 B-17s are lost and 208 damaged; 10 airmen are WIA and 21 MIA. Escort is provided by 133 of 142 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 2 damaged beyond repair.
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, 2022
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