Re: Flying into unsustianable losses. Again and again.

[Jim McCartan]

Keep them coming Art.

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[ArtKramr]

>Subject: Re: Flying into unsustianable losses. Again and again.
>From: (Jim McCartan)
>Date: 7/25/03 11:47 AM Pacific Daylight Time
>Message-id: >
>
>Keep them coming Art.
>
>More
>
>More


I sure will. The truth will out.


Arthur Kramer
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer

[Steven P. McNicoll]

"ArtKramr" > wrote in message
...
>
> Some target had to be hit no matter what the loses. The heavily defended
RR
> Bridges were a case in point. Here are two of hundreds of examples where
in
> spite of heavy losses these targets were hot over and over again without
> let-up. The idea that the USAAC would not attack where losses could be
> unsustainable was only propaganda for the nice folks at home worrying
about
> their sons in battle. Unfortunately some "historians" bought the idea hook
line
> and sinker contrubuting to distortion of the facts.
>
> Two Bad Days Over the Deadly RR Bridges
>
> Railroad bridges were brutally defended. Knock out a RR bridge and you
have cut
> transport for possibly hundreds of miles . And while repairing track took
only
> a few hours. rebulding a RR bridge over a river or chasm might take weeks.
We
> had some of our heaviest losses over these bridges. On the 13th of
February
> 1945 we attacked the RR Bridge at Euskirchen. We lost two aircraft over
the
> target. We lost Yeager and his crew and Williams (one chute seen to open)
and
> his crew. The very next day we hit the Engers RR bridge and we lost 5
aircraft
> over the target. Brennen,Holms, Jones, Nelson and Meppen and crews were
lost
> but three chutes were seen you open. Two bridges,two days, seven crews
lost. A
> lot of empty bunks at the 344th. And the war was almost over. What a time
to
> die.
>
> Death Over Paris
>
> On preparation for D-Day the 344th was hitting bridges and rail lines
leading
> to Omaha Beach. A critical target was the Paris RR bridge which allowed
vast
> amounts of train traffic to move west toward Omaha. We hit the Paris RR
bridge
> on the morning 28 May, 1944. The defenses were brutal and out of the 56
B-26's
> that went out that day, 5 were were shot down over the target with a loss
of 31
> aircrew.
>
> We lost 4 from the 495th squadron including the crews of Seale, Woodrum,
> Peterson and Shewel. The fifth loss was Reynolds crew of the 497th
squadron.
>
> 5 out of 56. No survivors. There were a lot of empty bunks that night. It
was a
> bad day over Paris.
>

Unsustainable losses cannot be sustained.