12th mission: Burg-bei-Magdeburg

The Burg Bei airfield, long suspected of harboring jets, was successfully bombed. Three A/C had major flak damage and a dozen others returned more severely riddled. -- Snetterton Falcons

After the unit had been operating for almost a month, the Allies learned that their nighttime nemeses in Komando Welter were based at an airfield outside Magdeburg, and a special strike was laid on the airfield for Easter Sunday, April 10, 1945. As Czypionka remembers, "I had flown operations the night before and had slept in. I awoke when I heard the alarm but was told that the bombers were going somewhere else-- not near us. I went back to sleep; then came the second alarm. The bombers were closer, so I got up." He packed all his gear in boxes that he placed near the barracks wall and then reported to the unit on the airfield. "Everyone had gone, and all the airplanes but one had been taken into the woods, so I went up in a 262 to see what was happening. I got chased by some Mustangs; then I saw a huge formation off in the distance, which I later discovered was a balloon on the loose. I landed and went to report it. The ground crew tried to pull the airplane into the woods, but they pulled too fast and tore off the nosewheel, so the plane was sitting there when the Americans arrived." The raid consisted of three waves of bombers. "It seemed to go on forever: it was the most terrifying experience of my life." -- Flight Journal

Just after our bombers hit targets about 10 to 15 jets started to come through. Our boys were ready for them and in the mad scramble that followed five twin jets were destroyed and two damaged. Some of the blow jobs were caught at altitude and chased to the deck, another was caught trying to land, another was shot down and crashed in the heart of Berlin... -- 20th Fighter Group

We were hit badly on the I.P. The hydraulic line below the Co-Pilots feet was cut in two, spewing hydraulic fluid and fire all over Willems who wasn't wearing his goggles. The instant that I saw the fire and Willems leaving his seat I heard Robbie give the order to bail out. I reached down and picked up my parachute just as Willems went by me knocking my parachute out of my hands. I picked it up again and followed Willems to the nose escape hatch. When I got there Willems had opened the escape hatch door and was squatting over it .I yelled at him to get out so the rest of us could and he moved over. I noticed that the fire was no longer on him and when he moved over I also noticed that the fire was no longer in the cabin. I returned to the flight deck and Robbie was still at the controls. I shouted, "Do you still want us to bail out?" He shook his head no and I got on the interphone. Mottola had, while waiting for the other gunners to leave the ship, hooked up on the interphone and heard me yell, Robbie says NOT to bail out. Fortunately, Mottola was able to stop them and no one left the plane. We went over the target on two engines far below our group and dropped our bombs with the other bombs as they fell around us. It was a miracle that we weren't hit. After getting rid of the bombs we were still losing altitude and Robbie told us to throw out anything that we could find to lighten the plane... -- Lyman R Huffman, Jr, 832nd Bomb Squadron

The flak was plenty heavy. It started coming up when we started the bomb run. They had our range and boy they were not shooting for fun. Flak was busting all over us. A ship in front of us got an engine knocked out and he left the formation with it on fire. We moved up and took his position. A big burst of flak busted under us, just below my right window. All I could see was a big sheet of red flame and it tossed our ship around like a matchstick. I thought for a minute that my turret was blown lose from the ship. We got 3 holes in the nose and a few in the wings. I don't see how we got by. I think we lost 3 ships. In spite of the flak, they said we did a good job. When flak starts bursting close to your ship, it sounds like hail on a tin roof. We were up 7 hours and 30 minutes. She was pretty rough. It was the kind that makes air crewmembers get religion. Boy, I was trying to crawl up into my little flak helmet, just anything for a little protection. -- Sgt Madison Parker, 486th Bomb Group

B-17G 44-6820 E/C Missing in Action Brandenburg, flak. Crashed Brandenburg, Germany. Aircraft received a direct flak hit following bombs away. Aircraft started smoking and headed for the ground in a manner that developed into a spiral. It exploded on impact. Nine chutes were seen but it was also observed that ground defences were firing at the parachuting men. With 18BS. Pilot: Roscher. Missing Air Crew Report # 14198. 2 Evaded, 7 Prisoner of War. -- 34th Bomb Group