May
1944
The crews flew
missions to marshalling yards, airfields, and synthetic oil plants in
preparation for D-day. Many of the original crews satisfied their mission
requirements and were reassigned, which made for an almost complete
turnover of combat personnel on base. Many of these men stayed on base
and were given ground jobs. Ground defense was strengthened, with machine
gun positions now manned, planes guarded at night, and personnel restricted
to base.
Click on a date
for details
|
Date
|
Target
|
| May
1st |
Noball
target; Ailly-le-haut-Clocher, France |
| May
1st |
Brussels,
Belgium |
| May
6th |
Noball
targets, France |
| May
7th |
Munster |
| May
8th |
Brunswick |
| May
9th |
Liege,
Belgium |
| May
11th |
Mulhouse,
France |
| May
12th |
Bohlen |
| May
13th |
Tutow |
| May
19th |
Brunswick |
| May
20th |
Reims,
France |
| May
23rd |
Orleans,
France |
| May
24th |
Orly
A/F, Paris, France |
| May
25th |
Mulhouse,
France |
| May
27th |
Konz
Karthaus |
| May
27th |
Fecamp,
France |
| May
28th |
Merseburg-Zeitz |
| May
29th |
Tutow |
| May
30th |
Rothenburg |
| May
31st |
Longuy,
France |
Clicking Photos
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here for all photos for May 1944.
May
1: Noball target; Ailly-le-haut-Clocher, France
The mission was abandoned due to heavy cloud cover over the target.
May
1: Brussels, Belgium
A late afternoon mission saw bombs hit on the marshalling yards of the
Belgian capital with fair results.
May
6: Noball targets, france
4 Crossbow targets were bombed by 14 groups from the first and second
air divisions, with unobserved results. It is believed they missed the
target.
May
7: Munster
The city was bombed by 29 planes. 2 crewmen suffered frostbite. The
primary targets, Handorf airfield and the Hamm marshalling yards, were
not hit due to cloud cover.
May
8: Brunswick
360 incendiaries and 120 500-pounders were dropped on the city. Enemy
fighter attacks were strong, but kept in check by "little buddies".
May
9: Liege, Belgium
The marshalling yards were severely damaged and the roundhouse totally
destroyed by 21 planes. One plane caught fire and exploded before take-off,
but not before all crewmen could escape unharmed. The pilot, 2/Lt Andy
Lipsky, was awarded the Soldiers Medal for ensuring his crew was safely
out of the burning, heavily armed plane before escaping himself. Photo
May
11: Mulhouse, France
The marshalling yards were hit with good results. S/Sgt James Forrest
shot down an ME 109.
May
12: Bohlen
Very good results were obtained against an oil refinery, which was set
ablaze. This refinery generated about 5% of Germany's synthetic oil.
S/Sgt Frank Romano shot down an ME 410.
May
13: Tutow
21 planes bombed the airfield with incendiaries and 500 pounders.
May
19: Brunswick
Up to 200 enemy planes and intense flak made this one of the toughest
missions to date. The marshalling yards and an airfield were both bombed.
All 446th planes returned safely to base, but one, without use of hydraulics,
crashed into an ambulance upon landing. There were no injuries reported.
May
20: Reims, France
22 planes bombed the airfield with good results.
May
23: Orleans airfield
The airfield was bombed with good results. One plane, "Wee Willie"
(42-7583), was lost when it appeared the bombs were dropped through
the closed bomb-bay doors. A piece of the damaged door struck and damaged
the plane's tail, causing a spin from which the pilot could not recover.
All 10 on board were killed. Photo
May
24: Orly airfield, France
34 planes dropped 237 thousand-pounders on Orly airfield outside of
Paris. The target was severely damaged. Crews observed P-51 and P-47
fighters destroying a train.
May
25: Mulhouse
32 planes bombed the marshalling yards with excellent results. One plane,
"Banger" (41-29140), lost an engine and turned back before
reaching the target. On it's return, it suffered heavy flak damage and
the crew had to bail out. 5 crewmen were taken prisoner and 5 evaded
capture and returned to England. Photos
May
27: Konz Karthaus
25 planes bombed the marshalling yards. The primary target area was
hit as was the MPI.
May
27: Fecamp, France
18 planes attacked a medium gun battery
May
28: Merseburg-Zeitz
24 planes attacked 2 synthetic oil plants and 2 airfields. There was
intense flak but all planes returned.
May
29: Tutow
The third mission to this airfield was successful, as good results were
reported by the 28 planes involved.
May
30: Rothenburg airfield
The airfield was bombed with very good results. A hangar was seen exploding
and smoke reached 30,000 feet. There was almost no opposition.
May
31: Longuy, France
Bad weather forced this mission to be recalled. One plane crashed shortly
after take-off; all men aboard parachuted to safety.
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