USAAF in WW II - 26 February

THURSDAY, 26 FEBRUARY 1942

AMERICAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS

  ZONE OF INTERIOR (4th Air Force): 2d Reconnaissance Squadron (Heavy), 30th Bombardment Group (Heavy) and 46th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 41st Bombardment Group (Medium), transfer from Muroc AAFld to Hammer Field, Fresno, California with LB-30's and B-18's respectively and continue flying ASW patrols.

FRIDAY, 26 FEBRUARY 1943

AIRCRAFT MENTIONED IN THIS REPORT:

  A-20, Douglas Havoc

  B-17, Boeing Flying Fortress

  B-24, Consolidated Liberator

  B-25, North American Mitchell

  P-38, Lockheed Lightning

  P-40, Curtiss

  Spitfire, Vickers Supermarine

  Ventura, Lockheed (RAF)

  Wellington, Vickers (RAF)

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Tenth Air Force)

  In Burma, Dinjan, India based P-40s hit a bridge northeast of Pinbaw, destroying a span and damaging other parts of the bridge.

  The 492d Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 7th Bombardment Group (Heavy) with B-24s transfers from Gaya, India to Bishnupur, India.

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force)

  VIII Bomber Command Mission 37:  76 B-17s of the 1st Bombardment Wing and

17 B-24s of the 2d Bombardment Wing are dispatched against Bremen, Germany.

The primary target is overcast so 59 B-17s and 6 B-24s attack the docks and surrounding areas of Wilhelmshaven, Germany dropping 164.25 tons of bombs between 1123 and 1125 hours local.  We claim 21 Luftwaffe fighters destroyed, 9 probably destroyed and 5 damaged; we lose 5 B-17s and 2 B-24s plus 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair; casualties are 14 WIA and 73 MIA.  The Luftwaffe attempts air-to-air bombing by fighter aircraft and the use of parachute bombs fired by AAA.

  Spitfire Mk Vs of the 4th Fighter Group fly 82 uneventful sorties; 6 on shipping patrols and 76 on 3 missions escorting Venturas attacking Dunkirk, France. [NOTE: At this time, there were 3 squadrons flying Ventura Mk Is and Mk IIs assigned to RAF Bomber Command and based in Norfolk, England.  No. 21 Squadron, RAF, was based at Methwold; the other 2 squadrons, No. 464 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), and No. 487 Squadron, Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF), were based at Feltwell.]

MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS

  EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN (Ninth Air Force)

    In Tunisia, P-40s carry out fighter-bomber missions as ground forces maintain pressure on the enemy along the coast and on the Gabes road.

B-25s attack roads and motor transport in the Arram area during the night of 26/27 Feb.

    General Bernard L. Montgomery sets 20 Mar as D-Day for an attack on the Mareth Line.

    The 328th, 330th and 409th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy), 93d Bombardment Group (Heavy) cease operations from Gambut, Libya with B-24s and return to their base at Hardwick, England.

  WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN (North African Air Force)

    Lieutenant General James H. Doolittle assumes command of the XII Bomber Command.

    In Tunisia, B-17s, with P-38 escort, attack the docks and shipping at Bizerte after RAF Wellingtons hit the same target the previous night.

Fighters hit trucks in the Pinchon-Ousseltia area and fly numerous reconnaissance missions.  Colonel-General Jurgen von Arnim's 5th Panzer Army opens an offensive on a broad front toward Bedja and Medjez el Bab.

    The 309th Fighter Squadron, 31st Fighter Group with Spitfire Mk Vs transfers from Youks-les-Bain, Algeria to Kalaa Djerda, Tunisia.

SOUTH PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Thirteenth Air Force)

  In the Solomons, P-38s and Navy aircraft hit Vila on Kolombangara Island during the night of 25/26 Feb.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Fifth Air Force)

  In the Bismarck Archipelago, B-17s and B-24s bomb the airfield on Gasmata Island.

  In New Guinea, A-20s hit the Buibuining-Waipali area while a single B-17 bombs the airfields at Lae and Salamaua.  Other B-17s attack shipping and the airfield at Wewak and a single B-17 attacks shipping in Hixon and Open Bays.

SATURDAY, 26 FEBRUARY 1944

AMERICAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS

  ALASKA (Eleventh Air Force): XI Bomber Command (Air Striking Group Task Group 90.1) is directed to conduct armed photographic reconnaissance missions in the Kurile Islands, day or night, as weather permits.

  HQ 28th Bombardment Group (Composite) moves from Adak Island to Shemya Island.

  CARIBBEAN (Sixth Air Force): 39th Reconnaissance Squadron, Antilles Air Command, begins a movement from Waller Field, Trinidad to the US; it will remain in the US until Dec 45.

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA (CBI) THEATER OF OPERATIONS

 

  BURMA-INDIA (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 15 B-25s and P-51s demolish warehouses in Naba and Hopin, attack bridges at Yeu, Bawgyo and Tantabin, and strafe railroad cars and tracks at Tangon, Namyao, and Pyintha; the Tantabin bridge is rendered unusable while approaches of the Ye-u and Bawgyo bridges are damaged.

  CHINA (Fourteenth Air Force): 11 B-25s from Nanning, China attack targets at Tourane, French Indochina, destroying 5 warehouses and a hangar at the airfield and a locomotive and 4 buildings at the railroad yard.

MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (MTO)

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Twelfth Air Force): Weather limits operations severely, but P-47's hit shipping N and S of Velaluka, Yugoslavia.

  379th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 310th Bombardment Group (Medium), moves from Philippeville, Algeria to Ghisonaccia, Corsica; they have been operating from Gambit, Libya with B-25s.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, Seventh Air Force): B-25s from Tarawa Atoll and Abemama Island attack Wotje and Jaluit Atolls; P-40s from Makin Island bomb and strafe targets on Mille Atoll.

  27th and 38th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy), 30th Bombardment Group (Heavy), based on Nanumea Island, Ellice Islands begin operating from Abemama and Makin Islands, respectively, with B-24s.

SOUTH PACIFIC AREA (SOPAC, Thirteenth Air Force): On New Britain Island, P-40s join USN fighters in covering a USN dive bomber strike on Wunapope supply and shipping facilities; 22 B-25s, with fighter support, follow up with the day's second strike on Wunapope; shortly afterwards, 17 P-38s strike the same target; 12 P-39s bomb and strafe Monoitu, Ruisei, Makapeko and Mawareka.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA (SWPA, Fifth Air Force): In New Guinea, B-24s bomb Wewak and Momote on Los Negros Island; B-25s, along with P-39s, hit the Madang-Alexishafen area and A-20s hit Angorum.

MONDAY, 26 FEBRUARY 1945

CHINA-BURMA-INDIA THEATER

  CHINA THEATER (Fourteenth Air Force): In China, 20 B-25s, some with fighter escort, bomb Ishan, Luchai, Siangtan, and hit bridges at Chuchou and Loshan.

In French Indochina, 9 B-25s attack bridges, railroad tracks, and heavy port equipment at Ha Trung, along the Chu R, and at Hongay and Haiphong. 70+ fighter-bombers on armed reconnaissance over S and E China and N French Indochina attack numerous targets of opportunity including airfields, town areas, and river, rail, and road traffic.

  HQ AAF (Twentieth Air Force): HQ 462d Bombardment Group (Very Heavy) begins a movement from Piardoba, India to the Mariana Islands.

  INDIA-BURMA THEATER (Tenth Air Force): In Burma, 12 P-47s support troops of the British 36 Division in the Mongmit area; 8 support the MARS Task Force, a composite Chinese-American force, in the Lashio sector while 16 others fly close support for Chinese 50th Division troops near Namhsam; 8 B-25s on low- level strikes knock out bypass bridges at Mong Pawn and Loi-leng; 80+ fighter-bombers and 4 B-25s continue to attack troops, supplies, road traffic, and other targets immediately behind lines.  Again 600+ transport sorties are flown.

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

  AIRBORNE OPERATIONS (IX Troop Carrier Command): HQ 436th Troop Carrier Group and the 80th, 81st and 82d Troop Carrier Squadrons move from Membury, England to Melun, France with C-47s.

  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.

  Mission 849: 1,207 bombers and 726 fighters are dispatched to make H2X radar attacks on three Berlin rail stations; they claim 6-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 B-17s and 3 P-51s are lost:

  1. 377 B-17s are sent to hit the Schlesischer rail station (363); 1 hits Osnabruck, a target of opportunity; 2 B-17s are lost and 21 damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 18 MIA. 214 of 244 P-51s escort claiming 4-0-0 aircraft in the air.

  2. 446 B-17s set out to hit the Alexanderplatz rail station (418); 4 others hit a target of opportunity; 1 B-17s is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 43 damaged; 8 airmen are KIA, 2 WIA and 9 MIA. Escorting are 232 of 240 P-51s; they claim 2-0-0 aircraft on the ground; 3 P-51s are lost (2 pilots MIA).

  3. 361 B-24s are dispatched to hit the North rail station (285); 37 hit Eberswalde, the secondary target; 4 hit a target of opportunity; 2 B-24s are damaged beyond repair and 26 damaged; 3 airmen are WIA and 3 MIA. The escort is 20 P-47s and 190 P-51s.

  4. 17 B-17s and 6 B-24s fly screening missions.

  5. 31 of 32 P-51 fly a scouting mission.

  Mission 850: During the night, 12 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany; and 5 B-24s fly a CARPETBAGGER mission.

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 235 A-20s, A-26s, and B-26s attack the communications center at Wickrath, rail and road junctions at Zieverich and Gladbach, a supply and ammunition depot (casual target), the towns of Kapellen, Viersen, and Munstereifel, and targets of opportunity; weather limits fighter operations to armed reconnaissance flights in the Aschaffenburg-Wurzburg area by the XIX Tactical Air Command.

MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (MTO)

  STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Fifteenth Air Force): During the night of 25/26 Feb, supply drops to N Italy continue. In Austria during the day 32 P-38s dive- bomb and strafe the Graz-Bruck an der Mur-Wiener Neustadt rail lines and 12 others fly top cover. Other P-38s and P-51s fly reconnaissance and escort missions. 102 B-24s, with fighter escort, dispatched against tactical targets in Yugoslavia, are recalled when clouds completely cover the objectives.

  TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Twelfth Air Force): In Italy during the night of 25/26 Feb, A-20s considerably damage marshalling yards at Castelfranco Veneto and Bazzano; medium bombers bomb railroad bridges at Legnago, Ala, Pontetidone, and San Michele all'Adige; fighters and fighter-bombers hit bridges, marshalling yards, rail lines, and transport targets at numerous points including Nervesa della Battaglia, Ora, Bologna, Trento, Vicenza, Castelnuovo di Garfagnana, and Avisio, and bomb airfields at Ghedi and Bergamo; XXII Tactical Air Command aircraft also support US Fifth Army forces in the battle area S of Bologna.

PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA)

  AAFPOA (Seventh Air Force): 9 B-24s sent from Guam Island against positions on Iwo Jima Island are recalled due to cloud cover; 8 B-24s hit Chichi Jima Island during the night of 26/27 Feb, flying individual harassment strikes.

SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA [SWPA, Far East Air Force (FEAF)]: B-24s over Formosa hit Takao Airfield while fighters on a sweep strafe railroad targets. On Luzon Island, B-24s bomb troop concentrations in the Ipo Dam area and support ground forces NE of Manila; A-20s and fighter-bombers support ground forces in the Echague Airfield area, at Ternate, Trinidad, and Antipolo, and hit troops W of Ft Stotsenburg. A-20s, P-38s, and P-47s hit Puerto Princesa on Palawan Island and B-25s bomb Zettle Airfield on Jolo Island. In Borneo, B-24s hit Manggar and Sepinggang Airfields. The 9th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter Group, moves from San Jose, Mindoro Island to Lingayen, Luzon with P-38s and the 70th Fighter Squadron, 18th Fighter Group, moves from Lingayen, Luzon to San Jose, Mindoro with P-38s.