The 51 Sqdn left from Snaith at 1945-03-02 at 7:20. Loc or duty Koln
He flew with a Handley Page Halifax (type III, serial MZ451, code MH-F).
Campaign report of the USAAF:
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force):: 2 missions are flown.
Mission 859: 1,232 bombers and 774 fighters are dispatched to hit synthetic oil plants and a tank factory in Germany; most attacks are made using H2X radar; they claim 110.
5-9-60 Luftwaffe aircraft; 14 bombers and 13 P-51s are lost:
1. 450 B-17s are sent to hit an oil plant at Bohlen (60), oil refinery at Rositz (36) and gun batteries at Bohlen (36); 255 hit the secondary target, Chemnitz; targets of opportunity are Penig (12), Saalfeld (13), Jocketa (12), Cologne (1) and other (12); some attacks are made visually; they claim 2-0-1 aircraft; 3 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 52 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 4 WIA and 29 MIA.
Escorting are 254 of 272 P-51s; they claim 7.
5-1-4 aircraft in the air and 0-0-6 on the ground without loss.
2. 321 B-24s are dispatched to hit the Rothensee oil plant (38) and Buckau tank factory (257) at Magdeburg; 4 others hit a target of opportunity; some attacks are made visually; 3 B-24s are lost and 61 damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 28 MIA.
The escort is 187 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 5-2-0 aircraft in the air; 2 P-51s are damaged beyond repair.
3. 455 B-17s are sent to hit the oil plant at Ruhland (24); 406 hit the secondary, Dresden; 1 other hits a target of opportunity; they claim 6-3-10 aircraft; 8 B-17s are lost and 53 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 2 WIA and 72 MIA.
225 of 249 P-51s escort; they claim 54-3-16 aircraft in the air and 36-0-23 on the ground; 13 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA).
4. 6 B-24s fly a screening mission.
5. 25 of 28 P-51s fly a scouting mission without loss.
6. 22 of 23 P-51s escort 14 F-5s and 4 Spitfires on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany without loss.
Mission 860: 11 of 12 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany without loss and 4 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): In Germany, the 9th Bombardment Division hits 5 bridges, 2 communications centers, 3 ordnance and motor transport depots, several city areas, and 6 targets of opportunity; the objectives are to hinder movement of enemy troops trying to help the German army caught in front of the US Third Army, to obstruct movement in general, and to damage enemy repair and refitting capabilities; 1,700+ fighters escort the bombers, hit special targets, fly armed reconnaissance and patrols, and support the US 3d Armored Division at expanding the bridgehead on the Erft River, the XVI and XIX Corps in the Sevelen, Monchen-Gladbach, and the Neuss area, and the VIII, XII, and XX Corps E of the Prum River, astride the Kyll River, and in the Trier-Saarburg area.
Campaign report of the RAF:
1/2 March 1944
55 Mosquitos to Berlin, 40 to Erfurt and 3 on nuisance raids over Northern Germany, 32 RCM sorties, 13 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.
2 March 1945
858 aircraft - 531 Lancasters, 303 Halifaxes, 24 Mosquitos - raided Cologne in 2 waves. 6 Lancasters and 2 Halifaxes were lost and 1 Halifax crashed in Belgium. The first raid was carried out by 703 aircraft and the second by 155 Lancasters of No 3 Group. In the second raid, however, only 15 aircraft bombed, because the G-H station in England was not working correctly. The main raid was highly destructive, with the Pathfinders marking in clear weather conditions. This was the last RAF raid on Cologne, which was captured by American troops 4 days later.
2/3 March 1945
69 training aircraft on a sweep, 67 Mosquitos to Kassel and 3 to Berlin, 48 RCM sorties, 31 Mosquito patrols, 10 Halifaxes and Lancasters minelaying off Norway and 6 Mosquitos in the Kiel Canal, 21 aircraft on Resistance operations. No aircraft lost.
With thanks to the RAF and USAAF.net
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