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Deep penetrating targets into Germany were the targets of the day. The Second Air Division was ordered to attack aviation industries in Tutow. The 492nd was assigned a FW aircraft assembly plant. The weather experts predicted good bombing visiblity so Pathfinders weren't needed.
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Col Snavely led this mission flying with the Orthman Crew 806. The last of his virgin combat crews were among the 40 airplanes dispatched. During the assembly one ship from the 857th had to abort, perhaps for mechanical reasons. The Group formed up in three sections with 13 planes in each. Sections are often called squadrons but since each section contains elements of the different Bomb Squadrons, the term "sections" is found to be more accurate. But either is correct.
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We do not have a formtion sheet to show how each plane was positioned but we do have a list of the crews in the order they took off. The list of crews linked at right are in the same order.
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For the third day in a row the 492nd had excellent fighter protection all the way to target. The 8th Air Force put up 737 fighters to escort their 749 bombers. Also involved in protecting the Mighty Eighth were 8 fighter groups from the 9th Air Force and 2 RAF fighter groups.
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The flak encountered was just like the day before. They were hit with some light flak as they crossed over the enemy held coastline but nothing to cause serious damage or casualties. They didn't see any more flak until they reached their target area.
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Beginner's luck continued, as the Group was never challenged by the Luftwaffe. Some of the men did see German fighters off in the distance attacking another group or engaged in dogfights with Allied fighters.
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Visibilty over the target was partly cloudy and the Lead section could not get a good line on the target. Snavely ordered the Group to hold off dropping their bombs and circle around for another run. However, the High Right and Low Left sections saw they had a clear bead on the target and 25 of their planes hit the target. Rather than breaking formation those two sections went ahead and followed the Lead section back over target. On the second pass the Lead section again couldn't drop. Snavely ordered his Lead section to find targets of opportunity.
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The return trip was long but without incident. Their beginner's luck continued and all of their aircraft returned safely to base. Since the bombing results were reported as excellent this mission was a textbook success.
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Now all of the crews had at least one mission under their belts while some had gone on all three. So far they hadn't had any enemy inflicted casualites. Their confidence was growing, but at the same time they had enough experience to be respectfully scared. Each man had begun his internal rationalizing process to overcome his fear. They were becoming battle-hardened vets.
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