Seventh Mission, 14 March 1945   Target  Marshalling Rail Yards, Osnabruck

Tony's Mission Log:

There's an error in Tony's log, this mission took place on 14 March 1945. The primary target of the Bomb Group was the oil refinery at Nienhagen, Germany. They hit the target with poor results (perhaps due to bad weather) and decided to pursue secondary targets. Osnabruck was the "Target of Last Resort" and they probably attacked it on the way back. 

The Combat Wing may have been flying around a LOT longer than they anticipated, and that's probably why they ran low on fuel. By this time, the USAF had established bases and airfields in France and it was an option for the crews that were desperate for fuel or badly battered. 

The mission log from the 8th Air Force reported that results of the Osnabruck raid were Fair. The photograph below certainly shows significant damage to the target and the industrial area next to it. As you can imagine, even a mission with great results would inflict significant collateral damage, as the rail yards were often located near city centers.  

Photograph of Marshalling Yards in Osnabruck taken 12 May 1945

Targeting Osnabruck was evidently designed to disrupt transportation ahead of the Allied advance. Just three weeks later the British rolled into Osnabruck and occupied the city without much resistance. 

This is a period photograph of the advance of the Montgomery's Second Army on Osnabruck. 

Comet tank from XVII Corps of Montgomery's Second Army entering Onsnabruck 4 April 1945

Tony mentions that the ship got a hole in the nose that missed him by three inches. A hole on the plane didn't just happen for no reason, it would be made by a bullet, or flak shrapnel. And if you were in its path, it could rip you apart. The skin of the B17 was VERY thin, and the nose was made of plexiglass! The skin was thin enough that you could punch a hole through it with a screw driver. There was no armor plating at all on the aircraft. So shrapnel from flak would fly right through the aircraft freely.

There are many photos documenting gruesome holes on the skin of B17's. Structurally, a hole on the skin wouldn't necessary be a problem, but you can only take so many hits before someone got hurt. 

  

At one point, the USAF realized that the great majority of crew injuries were due to enemy flak, and they introduced body armor for the gunners as shown below. The flak vest had overlapping magnesium plates and were effective against shrapnel. But they were no protection against a direct hit by flak or a 20mm round from a fighter. 

One more thing about this mission. Tony's crew flew in a ship called "The Pursuit of Happiness", a month later, that plane was shot down with no survivors over the Czech Republic (photo below). The war in March of 1945 was not over by any means!

Notes about this photo from the 486th archives: Salvers remove the right wing of "Pursuit of Happiness" from its crash site near Precaply, Czech Republic. "Pursuit of Happiness" (931:4N:L) was shot down over the Brux/Most area, with the loss of the Bartl crew on April 17, 1945. (Radovan Helt, Czech Republic)