Ninth Mission, 17 March 1945    Target - Ruhland Oil Refinery

A Fools Errand in the clouds:

The target for this mission was the Ruhland Oil Refinery, deep into Germany. The weather, terrible! Eight Air Force logs report that clouds extended from 1,000 to 15,000 feet! Perfect conditions for mid-air collisions and falling out of formations.

Tony flew this mission and the next 7 in a row aboard this plane 43-37835  Censors obscured the markings.

Ruhland, between Berlin and Dresden

The target for this mission was the Ruhland Oil Refinery, which the 8th Air Force made a point of targeting many times, 5 times in 1945 alone, and each mission included 200 to 500 bombers. 

Ruhland-Schwarzheide Benzin Plant           Photo taken 1944

Tony's Mission Log:

This mission was actually flown on 17 March 1945

This mission had to be very frustrating. Getting lost that to be terribly annoying. Some of the bomb group certainly managed to stay together, but were unable to hit the main objective and ended up bombing targets of last resort in Fulda and Plauen, which are west of Dresden. Naturally, the 486th Bomb Group had the benefit of RADAR navigation. So they were way better equipped to figure out their location.  Tony's flew using Dead- Reckoning procedures, which would be considered absolutely crude today.  

Apparently, they decided to drop their bombs, even if they had no idea what they were hitting. This is a rational decision in that flying with a full bomb load was costing them more fuel and they may not have had enough to make it home. Additionally, landing a plane full of bombs was hazardous. It made the plane much harder to land and mistakes could be potentially fatal to the crew and others. And it had to be an exhausting day with nothing to show for it. But they made it back home AND got credit for their mission, which they must have been very happy about. 

This WWII will acquaint you with the Dead-Reckoning technique.