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While the B-17s went back to Munich, the B-24s went to Saarbrucken, Germany. This border town was serving as one of a few logistical gateways into France. It not only helped the Germans supply their forces fighting in Normandy, but it transported V-weapon related material, as well. Saarbrucken was an important target.
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The Group dispatched 18 crews for the job under the command of Captain Green, the Group Engineering Officer. He flew with the Velarde Crew 615.
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We're not clear on the details, but the 2 crews that aborted were given sortie credit. The Kolton Crew R-10 couldn't get their wheels to retract and the Perry Crew R-21 had engine problems. After taking off, North Pickenham was shut down due to bad weather and the two crews had to land at Manston Airfield instead.
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Very weak, to say the least. Only 81 fighters were assigned to escort the 366 Liberators. Either army intelligence knew what they were doing or that was all the escorts the Army Air Force could spare, but fortunately no enemy aircraft was sighted.
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Flak was described as moderate. The Group had an easy run and suffered no damage.
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Assumption is that this was a Pathfinder-led mission, but records don't show that one was lent to the 492nd. It could be that the Group dropped on the mark of another group or they used their Gee Box to find the target.
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It was a good thing they didn't go back to Munich with the B-17s, because the Luftwaffe finally decided to show up there. The German Air Force didn't mount a large attack, but they did get a few hefty licks in, bringing down 9 planes. The 492nd's usual tough luck, however, was taking the day off.
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Ii wasn't what might have been considered a "soft" assignment that made the day lucky for the Group. Although the B-24 force to Saarbrucken was hit by a fairly minor amount of flak, which the ships themselves took rather well, a very high number of casualties were inflicted upon some unlucky crewmen onboard those few bombers. See the Bigger Picture.
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The Group was extremely lucky that they didn't lose any planes or people during assembly in the bad weather. We don't have the 8th Air Force's casualty totals of those losses, but the 392nd lost one plane due to icing which killed 8 crewmen. They had another plane that came close to going down. Before the pilots were able to regain control, two of their crewmen bailed out to their deaths.
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There were plenty of ways to die that day, yet somehow the Group got through it without a hard loss. Luck seems to run on a pendulum and today it was swinging good.
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