Mission Date: January 1, 1945
BIELEFELD (SCRUBBED AT TAKEOFF)
Mission Summary
ON THIS DAY...January 1, 1945
Starting the new year out with twelve fewer B-17s and their respective crews, 1945 had a solemn beginning for the 100th Bomb Group. Crews trickling back into the base after being away on a forty-eight hour pass for New Year’s Eve were numbed when they heard about the Hamburg mission. To make matters worse, the Luftwaffe had once again targeted the American fliers when a major strafing raid was conducted against the Allied airfields in East Anglia that New Year’s Eve.
On January 1, the 100th could only field fifteen available aircraft for the briefed mission to Bielefield. Nervous as hell, the boys flying that day were relieved when the mission was scrubbed at take-off.
It would not be until later that word would be received of the survival of some of the crew members after their bail outs and becoming Prisoners of War. Imagine the mental impact on the boys sleeping next to the empty cots in the various nissen huts or for that matter, on the remainder of the boys of the 100th continuing to fly.
Bombing Results
Bombing Results:
Aircraft Lost:
Crew Lost:
Claims of Enemy Losses (CLS):
Aircraft Returned:
