Fifth mission: Plantlunne

Daddy's third mission in three days. I 'magine he was mentally and physically wiped out after this one, but was given only one day off before Mission No. 6.

Operation Varsity, the airborne support for the 9th US and 2th British Armies' crossing of the Rhein. On the morning of 24 March 1945, an enormous air armada crossed the River Rhein near Wesel in Western Germany. The column, two-and-a-half hours long, consisted of more than 1,500 IX Troop Carrier Command airplanes and gliders. To their left were about 1,200 RAF airplanes and gliders, the entire was supported by 880 US and RAF fighters. Operations of XVIII US Corps (Airborne) in support of the crossing of the River Rhine, 24 and 25 March 1945; On the 24th March 1945, in perfect weather, nearly 4000 aircraft from the 6th Airborne Division and the 17th US Airborne Division deposited fighting men behind enemy lines, East of the River Rhine. Their mission was to capture key points and so assist the advance of the ground troops. Having learned the lessons from the Arnhem battle, the gliders and paratroops landed close to their targets and achieved total success. -- The World at War: History of WWII 1939-1945

Allied forces were rushing across the Rhine every day and this mission was designed by he 8th to help our land forces in two ways. The first way, which was the dropping of supplies from low altitude, was assigned to some 200 bombers from the 2AD. Some of these B-24s were lost to small arms fire because they flew so low! But for the rest of the 8th it was German airfields. Keep the Luftwaffe grounded while the Allies crossed the river. The patterns of the 96th bombing completely covered this Luftwaffe airfield. But today's tragedy struck early as the group was departing England. Passing over Great Yarmouth at 0700 hours, Lt Ron Birch, 413th, suddenly requested permission to jettison his bombs. Obviously there was trouble aboard his 43-37645, for at 0720 Birch called out again to report that he had an engine on fire and was preparing to ditch. A B-17 from the 1AD relayed Birch's situation to Air-Sea Rescue with the proper coordinates. The search was unsuccessful. And lost with the rest of the crew was this history's latest diarist, Lt Glen Wallace, who had been flying as Lt Birch's ball turret gunner. Less than two weeks ago, Sgt Wallace had turned 20. The rest of the mission was a milk run. -- Snetterton Falcons

Throughout the day-in support of Operation VARSITY, the Anglo-American airborne assault across the Rhine River-1st Air Division B-17s mount 706 effective bombing sorties and 3d Air Division B-17s mount 625 effective bombing sorties against numerous GAF airfields and bases throughout northern and northwestern Germany. Also, VIII Fighter Command fighters mount 1,297 effective sorties throughout the day. Five B-17s and nine fighters are lost. Beginning at 1000 hours-following intensive clearing attacks by USAAF fighters, including attacks on flak concentrations and airfields-paratroopers and gliderborne forces of the British 6th and U.S. l7th Airborne divisions taking part in Operation VARSITY are dropped into landing zones around Wesel by 2,029 IX Troop Carrier Command C-47s and gliders and 839 RAF aircraft and gliders. The landings are supported by low-level supply drops conducted by 240 2d Air Division B-24s and by an attack on nearby Nordhom Airdrome by 58 466th Heavy Bombardment Group B-24s. Fourteen B-24s are lost, mostly to small arms fire, while dropping supplies. Thirty-nine C-47s are downed by flak, one C-47 is lost in an accident, and six C-47s are lost to unknown causes. 9th Air Division bombers mount 688 effective sorties against flak concentrations, rail bridges, communications centers, and many tactical targets in and around the Operation VARSITY battle area. Throughout the day, Ninth Air Force fighters and fighter-bombers mount 2,039 effective sorties in direct support Allied ground forces and mount attacks to block access to the battle area by German reinforcements. Eighth, Ninth, and First Tactical air force fighter pilots down a Ju-87 and 64 GAF fighters over Germany between 0244 and 1855 hours. Maj. Robert A. Elder, the commanding officer of the 354th Fighter Group's 353rd Fighter Squadron, in P-51s, becomes an "ace in a day" when he downs four FW-190s and a Bf-109 near Kassel between 1530 and 1600 hours. Two hundred seventy-one Fifteenth Air Force B-24s destroy whatever remains of the Neuberg jet-aircraft factory as well as an estimated 20 jet aircraft parked on the adjacent airdrome. More than 150 Fifteenth Air Force B-17s attack the Daimler-Benz tank-engine factory in Berlin. This is the Fifteenth's first mission to the German capital, a round trip exceeding 1,500 miles. On this mission, four B-17s are downed by flak near Brux, Czechoslovakia; a fifth is downed during the approach to the target when the bomber formation is attacked by 15 Me-262s; and a sixth is downed over the target by flak. -- 354th FG

This was a "Big Day" in which this group flew two missions in support of Allied troops making their drive across the Rhine. At 06.20 hrs Capt Tyson led 37 ships took off with their target designated as an airfield at Vechtal, Germany. The target was bombed with excellent results. The waist gunner on Lt Bennett’s crew, S/Sgt Robert B. Bolin, was killed by a penetrating wound of the abdomen, caused by flak, while the navigator and bombardier of Lt Brashear’s crew were slightly injured by fragments of plexi-glass. Lt Jankoviak’s aircraft was hit at the target and blew up and crashed, with no chutes seen to open. No enemy fighters were encountered. -- 381st BG Medical Detachment

General briefings for all (26) crews were held at 0600 hours after lead crews had been given thorough pre-briefs on the afternoon and evening prior. At 0930 hours, all bombers began take-offs on a mission which called for release altitudes of 300-400 feet absolute over the drop zones. All drops were made precisely on target but the bombers going in to drop on the British DZ received considerable small arms fire and aircraft damage. In all, (2) bombers were lost and one crew listed as MIA for several days. This crew in ship # 709 from the 576th, Lieutenant Hummell’s, had an interesting and harrowing story to relate about their crash landing in enemy lines on this mission. Lieutenants Frazier and Procter, also of the 576th, were to land their badly damaged bombers on the Continent after the drop. The account of Lieutenant Hummel’s crew experiences were as follows: The bomber took 20MM and 37MM hits in # 2 and # 3 engine about three miles past the drop zone over enemy troops. As # 3 engine caught fire, the pilot gave the abandon ship order at about 500 foot altitude. However, only (2) crew members jumped, Lieutenant Knudsen the Navigator and Sergeant Morse, the Nose Gunner. The remaining members apparently did not hear the bailout signal. The pilots proceeded to successfully crash land the crippled bomber about two miles east of the DZ in the midst of German troops. Enemy riflemen opened fire immediately, killing the right Waist Gunner. The Radio Operator was killed prior as he was last seen to fall out of the bomb bay just after the supply bundles were released. He was not wearing a parachute and his body was not found during subsequent search of the crashed bomber. The survivors of the crash landing were taken prisoners by the Wehrmacht troops and taken to a nearby chateau, searched and interrogated by a German Corporal who spoke fluent English. The wounded were then treated for their injuries and kept under guard for approximately (4) hours. At this time, U.S. ground forces of the 513th Paratroop Division surrounded the chateau, forcing the German surrender and also release of the crew. It was learned that the Navigator had landed safely from bailout but was taken prisoner. The other member bailing out, Sergeant Morse, evaded capture by crawling through a wooded area in the direction of Allied lines where he saw U.S. gliders in an open field. He soon was picked up by American troops and later rejoined his crew back at Wendling. -- 392nd BG