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Post by Keith Heitmann on Apr 9, 2004 17:55:34 GMT -5
Mission: Bremen Oil Refinery nothern Germany
I changed the planned course to swing beyond several flak zones that the original course would have had us fly through to reach the target. I traveled further NE over the Baltic and then swung sound on a more direct line approach to the target.
Cloud cover during the flight and over the target was light. Flak near the target was moderate and did little damage. Fighters didn't engaget the group until just moments before "bombs away". The target line up was almost perfect this time and the approach was made along its length instead of the usual perpendicular approach. The bomb string struck home perfectly destroying nearly every building on the refinery.
Fighters and flak continued to harrass the group as we climbed for higher altitude on the way out and finally left the flak zone covering the target. The flight home went unopposed and we lost no bombers. All-in-all it was a very good flight and excellent bombing mission.
Mission score target damage HIGH, no bomber losses and 4 enemy fighters destroyed.
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Post by Keith Heitmann on Apr 10, 2004 18:59:53 GMT -5
Primary target and secondary target obscurred by cloud cover attacked tertiary target, Bullay Road Bridge in a small town between Koblenz, Wiesbaden, and Saarbrucken. Heavy fighter opposition cost us two bombers on the way in but managed to shoot down 10 fighters. Bomb run met with light to moderate flak with no damage and the target bridge was totally destroyed. No opposition met on the way home. The rest of the group landed safely.
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Post by Keith Heitmann on Apr 12, 2004 0:58:28 GMT -5
Target Gelsenkirchen Oil Refinery. Heavy fighter opposition on the way in but good shooting by the gunners and protection from the escort P-51s managed to shoot down and damage nearly all the German fighters in the initial attack. Leaving just a small few to continue the attack on the squadron.
Target was relatively clear and the drop went without problems scoring total destruction on the primary target. Flak managed to ventilate the wings and fuselage and cause some minor wounds but the entire group returned safe and sound with 8 fighter kills to our credit.
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Post by Keith Heitmann on Apr 12, 2004 17:16:30 GMT -5
Two more missions flown today. Kamen Oil Refinery near Essen and the Bremen Focke Wulf Plant.
Heavy flak and fighter attacks did lots of damage and caused several wounds but the gunners did their job along with the escorts and kept the schwarms of 190s and 109s off our backs long enough to get a good strike on the target. The secondary Kaman Oil Refinery was selected because the primary was socked in by cloud cover. The bomb drop went very well and we left the target with major damage. Heavy flak on the way out again as the group kept climbing to get get above it. Land bace at base with the #4 engine feather due to fighter attacks.
Target score: High damage, no losses and 6 fighters shot down.
We approached the Bremen Focke Wulf plant from the NE to avoid heavy flak zones and this seemed to hold off the fighters for a time as well because we weren't engaged until we reached the IP. The target was a sitting duck in a clear sky with few clouds and the bomb drop went well once again leaving most of the facility burning. The bomb drop managed cluster the itself on the target instead of tracing across in in-trail of our line of flight so the bomb damage was confined strickly to the plant area. We lost one bomber either to flak damage or delayed fighter damage.
We manage to fly home unmolested and landed safely. The target score was: High damage, 1 bomber lost and 3 fighters shot down.
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Post by Keith Heitmann on Apr 13, 2004 18:37:04 GMT -5
Final mission: Leuna Oil Production Facility. This mission was another deep penetration mission and required the group to pass through many miles of German territory before we reached the target area.
As a result the Germans were able to gather together more fighters for defense. The initial attacking group of fighters included 2 schwarms of 190s and 1 schwarm of 109s. Despite successfully holding them off with our guns and escorts we lost three B-17s due to direct rammings by German fighters. Both my navigator and bombardier were wounded on one fighter pass but were able to carry on just before we reached the IP.
The target was lined up beautifully for our approach. For some strange reason there no flak near the target or on the way out afterwards. The bomb string damaged the entire facility except for a few side buildings as the string of bomb explosions mushroomed down its length.
A second group of fighters engaged us just short of the target and were eventually defeated by the gunners of the groups and then it was the long flight through central Germany westward to the coast. Once again we climbed above heavy flak in the Dusseldorl-Solingen corridor of some many other missions but we managed to successfully stay above it without further damage and joined up with our replacement escorts for the rest of the trip home and a safe landing.
Final mission score: Moderate target damage, 4 bombers lost and 14 enemy fighters shot down ending my bomber commander campaign.
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