Blankenburg, Germany; Close air support mission 20 April 45 for 8 AD,

[25Kingman49]

Greetings all,
Seeking information (if available) for a close air support mission 20 April 1945 in support of the 8th Armored Division assault on this relatively small city. Most likely carried out by units of IX Fighter Command.

The 8 AD narrative for this action is available here
https://www.8th-armored.org/aar/36hq...E-6JUXFMPL-TNY

And the 8 AD larger involvement here https://www.8th-armored.org/books/le...oFxQ0L8cyFsekE i.e.

"An air strike had been requested and exactly at 1000 on the 20th a 13-plane squadron appeared over the town. For 45 minutes the planes dive-bombed and strafed the city's defenses"

Thank you in advance for any help determining what AAF unit flew this 20 April mission in support of the 8 AD.

[FrankieS]

The morning of April 20th was perceived by many residents as a “calm before the storm”. The bombs fell at 11 a.m., killing around 70 people and destroying almost as many houses. The city center of Blankenburg was in flames. But still no white flag was raised. In the afternoon, American planes flew over the place again. Only after the Americans warned again to finally hand over the city, otherwise Blankenburg would be covered with a denser carpet of bombs, was there no more resistance. At around 5:30 p.m. the handover of the city to an American officer took place in the town hall.

[25Kingman49]

Thank you, for this narrative.

Was there any mention of which AAF unit flew this mission?

Kind, regards.

[FrankieS]

sorrily no

[Alex Smart]

Hi Scott,
In your post 1 above you have this -
"Most likely carried out by units of IX Fighter Command".
I have no info to hand about the IX AAF Fighter actions for the date you give ,but if it was Bombers they were most likely to have been A-26 Invaders, from the 386th Bomb Group.
Alex

[25Kingman49]

Hi Alex,
In general when the 8 AD called in close air support it was a situation where a tank company had come up against a couple of Nazi Tiger Tanks. In those cases usually a couple of P-48 Thunderbolts would show up and knockout the Tigers.
The subject Blankenburg situation is a bit different, where as this was a town with the 8 AD attempting to secure a surrender of the town without combat if possible. The AAF 13-plane squadron attack of the city was a motivation toward that end.
It is quit possible medium bombers such as the A-26 Invader may have been employed. The town was heavily damaged by this air attack and subsequent armored artillery bombardment.https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid...61268800861947
Thank you for your response.

[Stig Jarlevik]

Geoffrey Sinclair wish to add the following

8th Armoured Division, XIX corps, 9th Army in April 1945, air support normally from XXIX Tactical Air Command.
Units moved around the IX (1st Army), XIX (3rd Army) and XXIX (9th Army) TAC but were reasonably stable post Ardennes. XXIX TAC OOB in 1945
16 February, 363rd TRG (F-6), 366th (P-47), 370th (P-38), 373rd (P-47), 405th (P-47), 406th (P-47) FG. 370th to P-51 on 9 March.
8 May, 363rd TRG (F-6), 366th (P-47), 370th (P-51), 373rd (P-47), 406th (P-47) FG. 405th departed on 28 April
Geoffrey Sinclair

Cheers
Stig

[Buckeye30]

Scott the extent of damage can be seen here: I would imagine if they were strafing and dive-bombing they would be P-47s ?
Nick




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me3dZo8-ohk

[25Kingman49]

Thank you, Nick.

Here is a paragraph from the 8 AD After Action Report, from the second link in my original post.

"An air strike had been requested and exactly at 1000 on the 20th a 13-plane squadron appeared over the town. For 45 minutes the planes dive-bombed and strafed the city's defenses. At 1100 A Company of the 36th Tank moved into firing positions behind a low protective ridge approximately 2 1/2 kilometers west of Blankenburg. Moving forward into full view in a line formation on the ridge, the Company fired five rounds from each tank in order to impress the Germans with the strength of the American armor. Following this the tanks withdrew and a two battalion Time on Target was fired by the 275th AFA and the 399th AFA."

Company A, 36 TB equipped with medium Sherman tanks: 76mm main gun.
275th AFA and the 399th AFA equipped with M7 Priest: 105mm Howitzer main gun.

The dive-bombing and strafing certainly reads like the tactics of P-47 fighter/bombers rather than medium bombers.

Thank you all for your responses.

[RSwank]

This link starting on page 97 has a description of the bombing and attack on Blankenburg.

You can search for Blankenburg and it should jump to page 97.

https://issuu.com/stangmagazine/docs...ed49thaibfinal

They describe a P-47 attack on the town.