November
1944
An anniversary
party was held on the 3rd to celebrate the group's first year in the
ETO. There was a 10 day stand down to make repairs to the runways. Near
the end of the month, a 3 day power failure at the water pumping station
meant no showers or shaving. Thanksgiving was celebrated with a turkey
dinner with all the trimmings. The season's first snowfall fell on the
9th, beginning the long, cold, damp winter. Most missions for the month
were conducted in cloudy weather, making for few observed results.
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November
2: Castrop-Rauxel
23 planes bombed the oil refineries through dense cloud cover.
November
4: Misburg
Intense flak met the crews as they bombed oil refineries. Dense, black
smoke and red flames were observed, indicative of oil fires. "Lassie
Come Home" (42-51356) was hit by flak and crashed, killing 6 crewmen,
with the remaining 4 taken prisoner. Photo
November
5: Karlsruhe
31 planes bombed the marshalling yards through cloud cover with unobserved
results.
November
6: Minden
11 planes bombed the canal aqueduct through clouds. Jet fighters were
spotted.
November
6: SterKrade
18 planes attacked a synthetic oil plant with unobserved results. There
was no battle damage in spite of heavy flak.
November
9: Metz
General Patton's ground forces were being held up by German fortresses
in the Metz area, and the 446th came to the rescue. Excellent results
were reported as buildings, ammunition and oil dumps were seen being
hit. Patton's forces were able to advance into the Saar area after the
raid.
November
10: Hanau airfield
18 planes attacked through complete undercast. Time delay bombs were
used.
November
11: Bottrop
Intense flak and complete cloud cover met the crews as they bombed a
synthetic oil plant.
November
21: Hamburg
The group's first mission after a 10 day standown for runway repair
was not a good one. An oil refinery was hit and intense flak brought
down "Satan's Little Sister" (42-95180). 7 Crewmen were killed
and 2 more evaded capture. Photos
November
25: Bingen
38 planes attacked the mashalling yards with good results reported.
November
26: Bielefeld
37 planes attacked a railroad viaduct, but most bombs fell short.
November
29: Bielefeld
A return trip was made to the railroad viaduct, but results were unobserved.
November
30: Neunkirchen
The marshalling yards were bombed through solid cloud cover. An unnamed
plane (42-51272) received a direct flak hit in it's bomb bay, split
in 2, and crashed. The pilot was blown free by the explosion and parachuted
safely to the ground where he was taken prisoner, but the other 10 crewmen
were killed. Another unnamed plane (42-51115) was severely damaged by
debris from the explosion of the first. One crewman was killed by the
debris, another bailed out but died later. The remaining 8 bailed out
and landed safely in Allied occupied territory. Photo
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