Details of Bomber Missions, Feb-Mar 1945

[Steve Brew]

Dear all

I'm attempting to check some details around some bomber missions that 41 Squadron escorted on 28 February, and 1, 21, 22, 23 and 28 March 1945. I would like to find out whose operation it was (e.g. RAF BC, USAAF 8th AF, etc.), how many aircraft participated and what the targets were. I do not need any further information on the ops.

I have checked both the Combat Chronology of the USAAF for March 1945 (http://paul.rutgers.edu/~mcgrew/wwii...ml/Mar.45.html) and RAF Bomber Command Campaign Diary for March 1945 (http://web.archive.org/web/200609050...and/mar45.html), but neither appear to give me the details I am after. It could well be that the details in 41 Squadron's ORB are too vague to pinpoint the exact operations, but the following is the detail I presently have for the ops in question:

28 February 1945 – 41 Squadron assigned to a bomber escort at 09:10 to escort B-25 Mitchell bombers to the Geldern area. 10/10ths cloud cover was found over the target area, no results of the bombing seen.

1 March 1945 – 41 Squadron assigned to a bomber escort at 16:30 to medium bombers attacking the Wesel-Maltern-Enschede area. The 122 Wing ORB appears to contradict the 41 Squadron ORB on 1 March 1945, stating that the Squadron provided area cover for Typhoons operating in the Emmerich-Wesel-Dorsten area, and makes no mention of bombers. The mission was uneventful.

21 March 1945 – 41 Squadron assigned to two medium bomber escorts. The first to Coesfeld at 09:10. They were preceded by 130 Squadron performing a similar escorting to medium bombers to the same area. 41 Squadron’s second escort from 09:25 was also to Coesfeld, making it the third attack by bombers on Coesfeld within just two hours.

22 March 1945 – 41 Squadron’s first operation was airborne at 09:00 to escort B-26 Marauders to Ahaus. Ten minutes after they were airborne, another four aircraft took off with four aircraft from 130 Squadron, to form a composite escort squadron to medium bombers to Haltern. At 15:40, another eight aircraft were airborne to escort medium bombers to the Dorsten area. The operation was uneventful. The day’s last operation for the Squadron was support of a 130 Squadron escort of medium bombers to the Dorsten area, airborne at 15:55.

23 March 1945 – 41 Squadron was airborne at 16:40 to escort a box of USAAF B-26 Marauders to Ahaus. They returned at 18:25 after an uneventful mission, with nothing to report.

28 March 1945 – escort of Mitchells to Malmedy-Königsfeld area at 15:20. The bombing run went unchallenged and 41’s pilots returned at 17:00 with nothing to report.

Any help on these would be most appreciated

Thanks
Steve