The 76 Sqdn left from Holme on Spalding Moor at 1945-04-25 at 14:41. Loc or duty Wangerooge
He flew with a Handley Page Halifax (type VI, serial RG553, code MP-T).
Campaign report of the USAAF:
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force):: 2 missions are flown.
Mission 968: 589 bombers and 486 fighters fly the final heavy bomber mission against an industrial target, airfields and rail targets in SE Germany and Czechoslovakia; they claim 1-1-0 Luftwaffe aircraft (including an Ar 234 jet); 6 bombers and 1 fighter are lost:
1. 307 B-17s are sent to hit the airfield (78) and Skokda armament works at Pilsen, Czechoslovakia; 6 B-17s are lost, 4 damaged beyond repair and 180 damaged; 8 airmen are WIA and 42 MIA.
Escorting are 188 of 206 P-51s.
2. 282 B-24s are sent to hit marshalling yards at Salzburg (109), Bad Reichenhall (56) and Hallein (57) and electrical transformers at Traunstein (56); 20 B-24s are damaged; 1 airman is WIA.
The escort is 203 of 216 P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft in the air.
3. 17 of 19 P-51s fly a sweep of the Prague-Linz area claiming 0-1-0 aircraft in the air; 1 P-51 is lost.
4. 17 of 19 P-51s fly a screening mission.
5. 4 P-51s escort 2 OA-10s on an air-sea-rescue mission.
6. 22 P-51s escort 5 F-5s on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany and Czechoslovakia.
7. 88 of 98 P-51s escort RAF bombers.
Mission 969: During the night of 25/26 Apr, 11 B-24s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany.
12 B-24s and 1 A-26 are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions to Norway; 7 aircraft complete the mission.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 296 A-20s, A-26s and B-26s strike Erding Airfield and Freilassing ordnance depot; fighters fly airfield cover and escort missions, and operate in conjunction with the US XII Corps as it pushes along the N bank of the Danube River SE of Passau and support the XX Corps on the Danube at Regensburg and surrounding areas; US and Soviet forces establish contact near Torgau.
Unit moves: HQ 97th Combat Bombardment Wing (Light) from Marchais to Arrancy, France; HQ 397th Bombardment Group (Medium) and 597th, 598th and 599th Bombardment Squadrons from Peronne, France to Venlo, the Netherlands with B-26s; 33d Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group, from Gutersloh to Brunswick, Germany with F-5s; 492d Fighter Squadron, 48th Fighter Group, from Kassel to Illesheim, Germany with P-47s.
Campaign report of the RAF:
24/25 April 1945
30 Mosquitos and 7 Lancasters dropped leaflets on 8 POW camps in which British prisoners-of-war were waiting to be liberated. Medical supplies were also dropped at the Neubrandenburg camp, north of Berlin. No aircraft were lost.
40 Mosquitos to Schleissheim airfield, 38 to Pasing airfield and 17 to Kiel, 27 RCM sorties, 19 Mosquito patrols. 1 Mosquito from the Schleissheim raid crashed in Belgium.
25 April 1945
Wangerooge: 482 aircraft - 308 Halifaxes, 158 Lancasters, 16 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups. 5 Halifaxes and 2 Lancasters lost. The raid was intended to knock out the coastal batteries on this Frisian island which controlled the approaches to the ports of Bremen and Wilhelmshaven. No doubt the experience of Antwerp, when guns on the approaches had prevented the port being used for several weeks, prompted this raid. The weather was clear and bombing was accurate until smoke and dust obscured the target area. The areas around the batteries were pitted with craters but the concreted gun positions were 'hardly damaged'; they were all capable of firing within a few hours. Part of the bombing hit a camp for forced workers and the holiday resort and many buildings were destroyed, including several hotels and guest houses, the Catholic church and two children's holiday homes, although these do not appear to have been occupied at the time of the bombing.
6 of the 7 bombers lost were involved in collisions - 2 Halifaxes of 7No 6 Squadron, 2 Lancasters of No 431 Squadron and 2 Halifaxes of Nos 408 and 426 Squadrons (both from Leeming airfield). There was only 1 survivor, from one of the No 76 Squadron aircraft. 28 Canadian and 13 British airmen were killed in the collisions. The seventh aircraft lost was a Halifax of No 347 (Free French) Squadron, whose crew were all killed.
Berchtesgaden: 359 Lancasters and 16 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 5 and 8 Groups. 2 Lancasters lost. This raid was against Hitler's 'Eagle's Nest' chalet and the local SS guard barracks. Among the force were 16 Lancasters of No 617 Squadron dropping their last Tallboys. 8 Oboe Mosquitos were also among the bombing force, to help with the marking, but mountains intervened between one of the ground stations transmitting the Oboe signals and the Mosquitos could not operate even though they were flying at 39,000 ft! There was some mist and the presence of snow on the ground also made it difficult to identify targets, but the bombing appeared to be accurate and effective. No other details are available.
Total effort for the day: 857 sorties, 9 aircraft (1.0 per cent) lost.
Most of the squadrons taking part in the raids on this day were flying their last operations of the war.
25/26 April 1945
107 Lancasters and 12 Mosquitos of No 5 Group attacked the oil refinery in Tonsberg in Southern Norway in the last raid flown by heavy bombers. The attack was accurately carried out and the target was severely damaged. A Lancaster of No 463 Squadron came down in Sweden, the last of more than 3,300 Lancasters lost in the war; Flying Officer A Cox and his all-British crew all survived and were interned in Sweden until the end of the war - only a few days away.
82 Mosquitos to Pasing airfield and 18 to Kiel, 9 RCM sorties, 35 Mosquito patrols, 14 Lancasters minelaying in Oslo Fjord (the last minelaying operation of the war), 12 Mosquitos of No 8 Group dropping leaflets over prisoner-of-war camps.
With thanks to the RAF and USAAF.net!
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