The 78 Sqdn left from an unknown RAF station at 1945-03-24 at an unknown time. Loc or duty Training
He flew with a Handley Page Halifax (type III, serial NP998, code EY-).
Campaign report of the USAAF:
(IX Troop Carrier Command): 2,000+ transports and gliders drop and land the British 6 Airborne and US 17th Airborne Divisions (plus artillery, vehicles, ammunition, and other supplies) E of the Rhine River N and NW of Wesel as the British Second and US Ninth Armies cross the river to the NW and SE.
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force):: 2 missions are flown.
Mission 911: In conjunction with the allied ground forces assault across the lower Rhine River (Operation VARSITY) the Eighth flies bombing, supply, and armed reconnaissance missions; during the day, 1,749 bomber sorties and 1,375 fighter sorties are flown to attack airfields visually in W and NW Germany in the morning and afternoon and drop supplies to US and British troops at midday; they claim 54-0-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; 19 bombers and 9 fighters are lost;
1. 175 of 179 B-17s bomb Vechta Airfield in the morning; 1 hits Rheine Airfield, a target of opportunity; 1 B-17 is lost; 1 airman is WIA and 9 MIA.
2. 527 B-17s are sent to hit Steenwijk (114), Zwischenahn (74), Varel (88), Varrelbusch (113) and Plantlunne (13) Airfields in the morning; targets of opportunity are Wittmundhafen Airfield (13) and other (2); 1 B-17 is lost and 2 damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 9 MIA.
3. 294 B-17s are dispatched to hit Rheine (36), Hopsten (62), Vechtel at Furstenau (72), Achmer (73) and Hesepe (36) Airfields in the morning; 1 other hits a target of opportunity; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft; 3 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 100 damaged; 8 airmen are KIA, 5 WIA and 28 MIA.
4. All 58 B-24s hit Nordhorn Airfield without loss.
5. The 4 forces above have 1,158 P-47s and P-51s flying area support; they claim 53-0-2 aircraft in the air and 0-0-4 on the ground; 9 P-51s are lost (8 pilots MIA).
6. At midday, 240 B-24s are sent to drop supplies in the US (122) and British (118) assault areas flying at 300 to 400-feet (91 to 122 m); 14 B-24s are lost (mostly to small arms fire), 4 damaged beyond repair and 103 damaged; 5 airmen are KIA, 30 WIA and 116 MIA.
7. 182 B-24s are sent to hit Stormede (96) and Kirtorf (65) Airfields in the afternoon; 9 hit Ziegenhain Airfield, the secondary, and 11 hit the Treysa marshalling yard, a target of opportunity; 16 B-24s are damaged.
8. 114 B-17s are sent to hit Ziegenhain Airfield (104) in the afternoon; 6 others hit Siegen marshalling yard, the secondary; 2 B-17s are damaged.
9. 152 of 153 B-17s hit Enschede Airfield at Twente; 20 B-17s are damaged.
10. The 3 forces above are escorted by 95 P-47s and P-51s without loss.
11. 2 B-17s and 19 of 20 P-51s fly scouting missions; 1 P-51 is lost
12. 8 P-51s escort 4 Mosquitos that monitor operations for the bombers.
13. 17 P-51s escort 19 aircraft on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany.
Mission 912: 10 of 12 B-24s drop leaflets in Germany and the Netherlands during the night and 24 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions over Scandinavia.
The 859th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 492d Bombardment Group (Heavy) [attached to the 2641st Special Group (Provisional)] moves from Brindisi to Rosignano, Italy with B-24s and C-47s (the squadron is flying CARPETBAGGER missions in the MTO).
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): In Germany, almost 700 A-20s, A-26s, and B-26s blast communications centers, rail bridges, flak positions, and numerous other targets in cooperation with the combined land-airborne assault across the Rhine River (Operation PLUNDER-VARSITY) by the British Second and US Ninth Armies and the US XVIII Corps of the First Allied Airborne Army; fighters attack with the bombers before the drop and carpet the landing zones with fragmentation bombs, immobilizing numerous flak batteries; fighters escort bombers and transports, cover the assaulting 30th and 79th Infantry Divisions, attack troop concentrations, flak positions, supply and ammunition dumps, airfields, defended villages, and road and rail traffic, and patrol the perimeter of the battle sector; fighters also support US First Army elements across the Rhine E of Remagen between Koblenz and the Sieg River as they prepare for the breakout assault, and the US Third Army's XII Corps as it strengthens its Rhine bridgehead E of Oppenheim and commits its armor to push through toward the Main River.
HQ 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group and the 30th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron and 109th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron move from Gosselies, Belgium to Vogelsang, Germany with F-5s and F-6s.
Campaign report of the RAF:
23/24 March 1944
195 Lancasters and 23 Mosquitos of Nos 5 and 8 Groups carried out the last raid on the unfortunate town of Wesel. No aircraft lost. Wesel claims to have been the most intensively bombed town, for its size, in Germany. 97 per cent of the buildings in the main town area were destroyed. The population, which had numbered nearly 25,000 on the outbreak of war, was only 1,900 in May 1945.
Support and 78 training aircraft on a sweep across France and as far as Mannheim, 65 Mosquitos to Berlin and 23 to Aschaffenburg, 41 RCM sorties, 39 Mosquito patrols. 2 Mosquitos lost from the Berlin raid.
24 March 1945
The final phase of the land war opened on this day, with the amphibious crossing of the Rhine on the Wesel sector and the airborne landings among the enemy defences a few hours later. British Commandos captured Wesel in the early hours, just after the Bomber Command raid had left the defenders dead or too dazed to fight properly. The weather remained good for further Bomber Command operations. It is interesting to observe that the Ruhr was still supplying fuel and munitions for the fighting front which was now only 15 miles away and that tactical bombing and strategic bombing were taking place almost side by side.
177 aircraft - 155 Halifaxes, 16 Lancasters, 6 Mosquitos - of 4 and 8 Groups attacked the railway yards at Sterkrade so successfully that, according to Bomber Command, there was 'complete destruction of a well packed marshalling yard'. No aircraft lost.
175 aircraft - 153 Halifaxes, 16 Lancasters, 6 Mosquitos - of 6 and 8 Groups attacked Gladbeck situated on the northern edge of the Ruhr and not far from the new battle area. The target was 'devastated'. 1 Halifax lost.
173 Lancasters and 12 Mosquitos of Nos 1, 6 and 8 Groups attacked the Harpenerweg plant at Dortmund and the Mathias Stinnes plant at Bottrop. 3 Lancasters were lost on the Dortmund raid.
Total effort for the day: 537 sorties, 4 aircraft (0.7 per cent) lost.
24/25 March 1945
67 Mosquitos to Berlin, 8 to Nordheim and 2 which bombed both Berlin and Magdeburg on nuisance flights, 38 RCM sorties, 33 Mosquito patrols. No aircraft lost.
With thanks to the RAF and USAAF.net!
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