Photo of B-26 (322nd BG) strafing in vicinity of Montabaur 22nd Feb 1945

[TCO]

Dear all,

the link below shows a pic of a strafing B-26. Acc. to the image description the Marauder belonged to the 322nd BG. The location is given as vicinity of Montabaur/Germany on 22nd Feb 1945.
Can anyone confirm this or are there other findings? What mission did the 322nd BG fly on 22.02.1945?


https://www.asisbiz.com/il2/B-26-Mar...-FRE13727.html

[Buckeye30]

Hi TCO. The mission was to Butzbach Germany at low-level (from MACR 12680 "all the planes were flying on the deck--that is they were down to an altitude of about 300 feet"). The MACR is for the one lost, B-26C 42-107745 which crashed from Flak near Bad Nauheim which is not far from Butzbach. There are 17 pages on the MACR.


Hope this helps.
Nick

[RSwank]

17 page MACR can be seen here:

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/91130082

[TCO]

@Nick: Thank you!!! No wonder, that I could not trace the factory. I was looking around in the vicinity of Montabaur and assumed the town Ransbach-Baumbach, since here was a factory with a couple of chimneys, which produced floor-tiles. But it did not match exactly with the rampart shown in the foreground of the photo.

@RSwank: Thanks a lot for the link to the MACR. I downloaded it.

Best regards,
TCO

[Buckeye30]

TCO. This was Operation "Clarion" targeting rail and road systems to assist the Allied armies in the west; along with Eighth / Fifteenth AFs, RAF and 1st TAF. The 322BG flew separate flights in the Butzbach region ( 36-plane Group) ie.
2 Flight Langgons ( rail yards)
1 Flight Butzbach (marshalling yards)
1 Flight Montabaur ( bridge, non-effective then strafed)
3 Flights Friedberg (marshalling yards)
2 Flights Niederhausen ( rail yards)
They all seem to be in the Butzbach area. After bombing primary targets they went down strafing targets of opportunity like bridges, road transport etc.
Eighth AF had similar targets, bombing from a lower altitude than usual for better accuracy, they mostly attacked targets of opportunity though.


Regards
Nick

[TCO]

@Nick:
Interesting! So one flight attacked in the Montabaur area, which is 40 Miles west of Butzbach. The target must have been the Autobahn-bridge (today A3) near Eschelbach, which was not destroyed on 22.02.1945. It was only blown up by German paratroopers in March 1945. On closer inspection of the photo, it could actually be from the area around Montabaur. Because a clay pit can be seen on the right-hand side of the picture, which is typical for this area. The spoil heap in the foreground would also fit in with this.


How many B-26 belonged to this flight?


BR,

Mario

[Buckeye30]

The bridge was not bombed as the weather was too hazy; not the easiest targets at best. According to the Ninth AF history the Montabaur element went down hitting rail cars, a pill-box, a loco and a Flak tower.
The "Flights" were actually called "Elements", 3 planes each and 3 to make a squadron of 9; Bomb Groups usually flew 27 or 36 plane Groups in early 1945 but they had some discretion as to composition at least in Eighth AF. Fighter Groups had 4-plane "Flights" with 2 leaders and 2 wingmen.


Regards
Nick

[TCO]

@Nick:
Thx! I understand the Montabaur element was 3 x B-26. Around Montabaur was a close-knit rail network at that time.


Regards,
Mario

[Adriano Baumgartner]

I would say that, in the image shown or depicted on POST #1, the airmen are flying much more lower than 300 feet....I would dare to say circa 100 feet or even lower, considering the height of the trees on the right side.

A beautiful shot indeed.