16 January 1945

Mission #229

Target: Lauta (Dresden)

The 392nd’s aircraft losses on this raid would rank with the highest ever suffered during combat, ranking along side of those experienced on missions to Bingen, Bernburg, Politz, Gotha and Friedrichshafen earlier. A total of (5) Liberators would be lost on this complex mission but fortunately, with only a few casualties compared to these other strikes. The field order instructions for this day arrived late with (2) plans outlined for target options. Plan "A" listed a primary strike against the oil refinery complex at Ruhland near Dresden with a secondary target of the Dresden marshalling yards.

Plan "B" called for a primary and secondary target of the Herman Goering Gas Works in the suburbs of Berlin, both plans geared to forecast weather for the respective target areas. General briefings for (30) aircrews were held between 0415 and 0530 hours. At 0600 hours, Plan "A" was decided on with a long circular route in over northern Germany and out over France being selected. This circuitous flight route was to take the Group coast-in north of Amsterdam over the Zuider Zee, then northeast to a turning point just southeast of Emden near Wilhelmshaven to another turning point just north of Hannover, then eastward on a path between Magdeburg and Berlin, continuing on southeast to an IP approximately (25) miles northeast of Dresden for a run on the target on the outskirts of Dresden. The route out followed a course over Chemnitz (now, Karl Marx Stadt) to (17) miles south of Karlsruhe with a series of turning points in France to (35) miles north of Paris and thence to Wendling. Planned duration of the mission was approximately 8:45 hours back over base, but many aircraft did not complete the route this day because of low fuel and enemy reaction.

At 0740 hours the lead aircraft commenced take-off roll with the last of (30) bombers going airborne at 0848. Three of the crews were forced to turn back early due to mechanical difficulties, all 4 having to land at other U.S. bomber bases in England. These were Lieutenants Popek from the 577^th in ship #898, Byrne from the 578th in #838 and Daley from the 579th in aircraft #459 having to make landings at Snaith, Framlingham and Bungay, respectively, due to fog which set in over Wendling after the Group launched on the mission. At 1155 hours the Group formation of (25) bombers reached the IP just northeast of Dresden to find the primary target area at Ruhland obscured by smoke and low clouds. The lead squadron elected to attack the aluminum works at Lauta nearby, which was struck with excellent results by all (9) bombers. The high squadron, flying slightly behind the low formation, made a visual run on the marshalling yards at Marback with poor results.

In the meantime, the low squadron with (8) bombers selected the industrial facilities at Werminghoff which was hit with good bombing results being achieved. A total of (304) 500# RDX/GP bombs were released with an overall bombing success of good aiming point coverage. There were no direct fighter encounters but some enemy aircraft were sighted. Friendly fighter support coverage throughout the mission, and particularly in the target area, was rated as excellent. AA fire around the Dresden area and on the bomb run from IP to target was moderate to heavy and accurate, but light and inaccurate elsewhere on the route. Five bombers were lost on this mission and (14) casualties, killed or MIA, were suffered. Three of the aircrews involved were forced to bailout and (2) had to crash land, all due to enemy AA fire or fuel shortage. From the 578th in ship #121 (U-Bar), "JAY’S POOLHALL". Lieutenant R. E. Vickers’ crew was seen at 1158 hours on the bomb run with #4 engine feathered and hit by flak in #2 engine. The bomber was last sighted after bombs away at 1204 with smoke coming out under the left wing and being nearly struck with bombs released from the lead ship of the high squadron. The bomber was last seen losing altitude and trailing beneath the formation, under control with two engines feathered and no chutes observed. Two P-51 fighters were seen to be escorting the crippled Liberator out of the target area. This aircrew was listed as MIA but on the 22nd of January it was learned that all members had bailed out safely southwest of Metz toward Conflans-en-Jarny as the ship had lost a third engine by AA fire on the route out just south of Frankfurt. Two members of this crew, the Flight Engineer and Radio Operator suffered severe leg injuries during the bailout and were hospitalized in the 106th U.S. Army Field Hospital near Metz as were the Co-Pilot and one Waist Gunner with lesser injuries. It was later recognized that the Engineer and Navigator of Vickers’ crew had accomplished superior tasks in splicing and rerouting damaged fuel lines as well as navigating the crippled aircraft around heavy enemy defenses to a safe bailout point within friendly lines. In ship #489 (G for George), Lieutenant Novik’s crew of the 579th in the first of hazardous experiences this crew would face, loss was suffered when the entire crew was forced to bail out on the Continent due to fuel shortage. The mishap occurred near St. Maur at approximately 1330 hours and (2) members of the crew, tragically, were killed. From the 576th Squadron, Lieutenant Meehan in #480 (B for Bravo) was also forced to crash land his bomber near Armentiers in France due to low fuel. All crew members escaped safely. Also crash landing in France were Lieutenant Clower’s crew from the 577th in ship #813 (V for Victory) which, due to AA damage and low fuel, went down near Lunevifie. The last ship lost on this day was that of Lieutenant Stoddard’s crew in #345 (D for Dog) which crashed near Tuddenham after the aircrew safely bailed out around Cheddington. Of the (20) surviving aircraft returning safely from this mission, none could recover at Wendling due to low fuel and/or heavy fog at the base.

A total of (19) B-24s were forced to land short on the Continent at Ninth Air Force strips of B-SO, B-51, B-53, A-61, Y-2 and Y-34. All crews landing away returned to base the next day. As the curtain rung down on this heavy loss mission, the 392nd had only (8) serviceable B-24s left on the station which prompted stand down of the Group on the 17th of January.

The September 2009 issue of the 392nd BGMA News has this article by navigator 2/Lt Russel Williams and gunner S/Sgt Al Schumacher. Members of 2/Lt William J. Clower's crew, they were among the 19 aircraft that landed on the Continent due to low fuel or battle damage. The 16 Jan 1945 mission to Lauta (Dresden) was the Clower crew's 15th. The plan called for us to meet at the I.P., make the bomb run, then take evasive action in a large circle and head for the English Channel and home. Flak had already cost us an engine and we could no longer keep up with the rest of the formation and continued south. Two P-51s came to look us over, gave us a salute and left us to fend for ourselves. Al had gotten a bomb out that was "hung up" in the bomb bay while Russ kept track of our location and depended upon the pilot to make necessary decisions. We continued to lose altitude and airspeed. We all continued to stare at the feathered props (by this time, we had lost #1 as well) when Bill called, "Russ, where the hell are we?" After some rapid dead reckoning and map consultation, Russ told Bill that there was an emergency field near Nancy, France, and gave him a heading of 300 degrees. However, we continued to lose airspeed and altitude, and over the intercom came the fateful words, "Guys, we aren't going to make it! Make up your minds-do you want to bail out?" We all voted to ride the plane down. At that, we were all told to take crash positions. Bill and copilot Harry Reel stayed at the controls and everyone else went in crash positions. We could all feel the plane losing altitude rapidly and then we heard Bill say, "Oh, no, Harry!" From training and landing instincts Harry had hit the landing gear lever, but it should have stayed up under the conditions of the land and snow covering. The next few minutes were all a continuous bouncing and noise as we plowed our way through brush and small trees. A landing gear flew past a waist window, and then everything was silent. We all broke out into a cheer and then quickly got out of our mangled plane. We were all alive, uninjured but for bruises. We were all praising Bill and Harry for the wonderful crash landing when we saw some flames. We then ran like hell to get away from the plane. Two spotter planes from Nancy circled over us. One managed to land, checked if anyone was injured, then took off with Bill. Much later, a truck with Bill aboard came to pick us up. The rest of the story was making our way to Paris where a C-47 was waiting to take us back to our base. We later discovered that we crashed very close to the front lines and the land wasn't in American hands for very long. The day after getting to our base we were once again flying a bombing mission over German-held territory. Plane 42-50813 after the Clower crew made a controlled crash-landing in France. Photo from Phil Johnson.

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CASUALTIES NOT LISTED IN MACR
2/LT Fife, Robert M. (N) 576th KIA
S/S Glass, Richard D. (NG) 576th KIA

These crewmen were on l/Lt. Novik’s aircrew on the mission to Lauta, Germany, close-by Dresden this day. The flight duration was long in comparison to most other sorties flown and the route in and out was circuitous, navigation-wise, and a mission where (5) Group aircraft would be lost this day (including the Author’s with his aircrew). A number of aircraft, also, were forced to land on the Continent at Allied airfields in France and Belgium due to low fuel situations and could not risk continuation to England inasmuch as the weather conditions had deteriorated drastically, especially at Wendling air base. Lt. Novik’s crew, due to fuel shortage was not so fortunate as all of his men were forced to abandon the plane near St. Maur, France around 1330 hours. In this emergency bail out, the two crew members cited above were killed from their parachute jumps. This aircrew was flying B-24J #42-50489, Call Letter "G" with no nickname. The ship was on its 36th combat mission. On burials, Sgt. Glass is interred in the U.S. National (overseas) Cemetery of EPINAL, France near Nancy-Belfort. His Grave is A-41-38 and awards were an Air Medal with (2) Oak Leaf Clusters. No indication of a Purple Heart citation is noted. Sgt. Glass was from West Virginia. 2/Lt. Fife is interred at Ft. Snelling National Cemetery, Section C-6, Site 8347.