WW2 USAAF B-17S 493RD BG OVER WINTER-HAUSENGR ORIGINAL PRESS TYPE PHOTO U74 | eBay
USAAF Chronology:
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 843: As a follow-up to the yesterday's attacks on transportation
facilities as part of Operation CLARION, 1,274 bombers and 705 fighters are
dispatched to hit marshalling yards in Germany; they claim 15-0-16 Luftwaffe
aircraft; 1 B-24 and 6 P-51s are lost:
1. 446 B-17s are dispatched to hit marshalling yards at Treuchtlingen (61),
Crailsheim (52), Neumarkt (74), Ansbach (109) and Kitzingen (95); targets of
opportunity are Nordlingen (2), Schwabisch Hall (24),
Winterhausen (7) and
other (2); 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 34 damaged; 1 airman is WIA.
Escorting are 194 of 203 P-51s; they claim 5-0-2 aircraft on the ground;
Operation Clarion: February 22-23, 1945
This first Clarion operation was judged so successful that a repeat was ordered for February 23, though on a smaller scale. On that date the Eight Air Force effectively sortied 1,211 bombers and 492 Fighter escorts to attack rail centers in central Germany. While encountering almost no Luftwaffe opposition, they dropped 3,316.4 tons on assigned targets and numerous targets of opportunity. More than 110 tons were dropped on each of eight marshalling yards (Treuchtlin, Crailsheim, Neumarkt, Ansback, Kitzingen, Weimar, Gera, and Plauen. Also heavily bombed were Nordlingem, Schwabisch Hall,
Winterhausen, Meiningen, Adelsberg, Hildburghausen, Lichtenfels, Schweinfurt, Ellingen, Ottingen, Wurzburg, Crailsheim, Jena, Osnabruck, Schluchter, Fritzler, Reichenbach, Steinau, and Paderborn, and the marshalling yards at Fulda and the railroad bridge at Kitzingen. Only two bombers failed to return to base, one ditching in the North Sea and the other having its crew parachuted safely in friendly territory. During the day the escorting P-51s claimed to have shot down seven German planes with the loss of one plane to Flak. The Fighter escorts also claimed to have destroyed or damaged 31 locomotives, 141 railroad cars, and 17 oil tank cars. Also during the day, three groups of fighters made sweeps, strafing airfields at Neuburg, Landsburg and Leipheim, rail and road traffic near Augsburg and near Frankfort. While losing one P-51 while strafing they claimed to have destroyed or damaged 23 German aircraft on the ground, 17 locomotives, 58 railroad cars, and 16 oil tank cars. And in a special operation, twenty-four B-24s dropped nearly 60 tons on the marshalling yards at Neuss.