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Natten Mellem Den 7. Og 8. Marts 1945

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Natten Mellem Den 7. Og 8. Marts 1945 F/Sgt B Lukins og hans besætning fra No. 75 Squadron, der bombede Dessau natten mellem den 7. og 8. marts 1945. Besætningen, der overlevede krigen, kastede en 4000 HC samt fem stk 750 lb clusters No. 15 med brandbomber over Dessau. De fløj denne nat Lancaster III PB418 'C'. No. 75 Squadron på RAF Mepal afsendte denne nat 13 Lancasters til Dessau. Alle eskadrillens fly bombede Dessau og vendte tilbage selv om det var tæt på, da F/Lt Spilman i Lancaster I LM276 'S' mødte et fjendtligt fly. Besætningens rapport lyder: 'At pos 51.36N 09.31E at 21.02 Lancasterr I LM276 the mid upper gunner sighted a Fw 190 attacking from Port Quarter Above at 600 yards, he immediately opened fire and gave order to corkscrew Port holding constant fire until enemy aircraft broke away at 300 yards to Starboard Quarter Down, diving vertically. Hits were observed on wings and fuselage of enemy aircraft which did not open fire and did not make a further attack. This FW 190 claimed as damaged'. Natten mellem den 7. og 8. marts 1945 Der har været skrevet meget om 8th Air Force og Bomber Commands angreb på mål i den østlige del af Tyskland i løbet af februar og marts 1945 - især Operation Thunderclap, men også en lang række kystbyer samt maritime mål blev bombet i denne periode. I februar 1945 var indsatsen mod maritime mål som følger: Mål Dato for angreb Udførende Antal Tons enheder fly kastet Poorterhaven 3. feb. RAF BC 19 96 Ymuiden 3. og 8. feb. RAF BC 32 171 10. feb. USAAF 9 36 Bremen 17/18, 18/19, 19/20, 21/22 RAF BC 38 71 22/23, 25/26 og 27/28 feb. 24. feb. USAAF 198 513 Hamburg 24. feb. USAAF 289 729 Horten 23/24 feb. RAF BC 83 221 Wilhelmshaven 27 feb. USAAF 23 53 Kanaler 7/8 og 21/22 feb. RAF BC 3241 1628 I marts 1945 blev antallet af angreb på maritime mål kraftigt forøget ligesom der fandt en række angreb sted, der fik stor betydning for den tyske maritime indsats selv om de ikke direkte var rettet mod denne. Af angreb mod havne og kanaler fandt følgende sted marts 1945: Mål Dato for angreb Udførende Antal Tons enheder fly kastet Hamburg 5/6, 8/9, 21/22 og 31. marts RAF BC 910 3754 11, 20 og 30. marts USAAF 1190 2782 Bremen 4/5, 9/10, 13/14, 20/21 RAF BC 196 720 21, 21/22 og 27/28 marts 11. og 30. marts USAAF 726 1690 Emden 3/4 marts USAAF 18 41 Kanaler 3/4 marts RAF BC 213 1028 Sassnitz 6/7 marts RAF BC 186 680 Kiel 11 Marts USAAF 334 708 Swinemünde 12. marts USAAF 660 1435 Ymuiden 14. og 21. marts USAAF 12 46 Wilhelmshaven 30. marts USAAF 327 837 Farge 27. marts RAF BC 109 694 30. marts USAAF 32 124 Natten mellem den 7. og 8. marts 1945 rettede RAF Bomber Command et angreb mod Hamburg Harburg, hvor målet ikke var skibe, men Tysklands olieforsyninger. Angrebet blev dog af den tyske marine opfattet som et angreb på havnen i Hamburg og Harburg. Samtidig med dette angreb gennemførte Bomber Command også et raid mod Dessau, der var hjemsted for de tyske Junkers flyfabrikker. Endvidere 'gæstede' Mosquitos flere tyske byer ligesom andre Mosquitos gennemførte intruder missioner til en række områder. Junkers fabrikkerne i Dessau beskæftigede tilsammen 32.000 personer. På billedet ses et meget lille udsnit af Junkers komplekset med flyveplads. Der blev blandt andet fremstillet bombefly, natjagere og opklaringsfly samt flymotorer i stor stil. I 2005 oplyste rådhuset i Dessau, at der ikke blev fremstillet krigsmateriel på fabrikken, men kun trykkedler, vaskemaskiner og gryder. Dessau var under krigen et kæmpemæssigt rustningscenter, der havde mange andre producenter af krigsmateriel end Junkers fabrikkerne. Jeg har besøgt Dessau adskillige gange. Første gang var for at se Bauhaus, men også for at danne mig et indtryk af selve byen Dessau. I 2005 kontaktede jeg officielt Dessau og blev sat i forbindelse med en venlig dame i 60'erne, der skulle hjælpe mig med byens historie. Jeg spurgte til angrebet på Dessau den 7 marts 1945 og fik et noget forbavsende svar. 'Dessau var blevet bombet af anglo-amerikanske luftterrorister, der havde til opgave at ødelægge den gamle by Dessau og dræbe så mange indbyggere som muligt'. Jeg fik samtidig oplyst, at der ikke var nogen militære mål i Dessau. Jeg gjorde venligt opmærksom på at Junkersfabrikkerne, der tilsammen i Dessau beskæftigede omkring 32.000 personer (motorfabrikken 18.000 og flyfremstilling 14.000), i aller højeste grad var beskæiftiget med krigsproduktion. Svaret var ret så interessant og desværre lød det, som om damen selv var overbevist om rigtigheden i hendes påstand, da hun hævdede, at Junkersfabrikkerne ikke fremstillede krigsmateriel, men nogle få transportfly samt trykkedler, vaskemaskiner og gryder. Dessau blev bombet af anglo- amerikanerne, fordi man ikke ønskede, at byen skulle falde uskadt i russernes hænder....... Junkersfabrikkerne var den største fremstiller af krigsmateriel i Dessau, men så absolut ikke den eneste. BAMAG (Berlin-Anhaltischen Maschinenfabrik) fremstillede panserværnskanoner og luftværnsskyts og der var en del andre underleverandører til krigsproduktionen. BAMAG var iøvrigt omkring 80% ødelagt efter angrebet på Dessau den 7. marts 1945. Årsagen for Bomber Commands angreb på Dessau var dog ikke denne nat at ramme byens krigsproduktion. Allieret signalopklaring havde fundet ud af, at flere regeringstjenester var flyttet ud af Berlin og til Dessau. Disse ønskede man at ramme samtidig med, at man ville ødelægge de tyske forsyningslinier til Berlin, som gik gennem Dessau. Endelig ønskede man at forhindre eller forstyrre flugtbevægelser ud af Berlin, når russerne om kort tid ville angribe byen. Rent statistisk så operationerne natten mellem den 7. og 8. marts 1945 således ud for Bomber Command: Mål Group Flytype Afsendt Angrebet Savnet Højde TOT Dessau 1 Lancaster 243 233 12 11-16.000 21.58-22.18 3 Lancaster 124 112 2 14-22.000 21.54-22.32 6 Lancaster 82 81 3 10-18.000 21.58-22.30 8 Lancaster 71 67 1 9½-19.000 21.53-22.23 8 Mosquito 6 6 - 21-23.000 21.49-22.09 Hamburg/Harburg 5 Lancaster 234 219 13 10-15.000 21.56-22.15 5 Mosquito 7 7 - Heide/Hemmingstedt 4 Halifax 156 153 2 6-12.000 21.57-22.16 6 Halifax 100 100 2 8-12.000 21.56-22.09 8 Lancaster 25 25 1 4½-15.000 21.55-22.12 Berlin 8 Mosquito 75 62 - 18-29.000 21.45-22.13 Frankfurt 8 Mosquito 10 10 - 23-28.000 23.40-23.45 Münster 8 Mosquito 9 9 - 21-25.000 20.33-20.41 Hannover-Berlin- 8 Mosquito 5 5 - 26-28.000 00.17-01.11 Dessau Photo Recce 5 Mosquito 1 1 - 8 Mosquito 2 2 - Minelaying 3 Lancaster 5 5 - 15.000 21.55-22.08 4 Halifax 15 15 - 7-10.000 21.56-22.01 Bomber Support 100 M H F Lib S 92 86 2 Signals Patrols 100 Hal Mos 7 5 - Selv om det var sidst i krigen og de allierede havde luftherredømmet over Tyskland, så viste de tyske natjagere denne nat, at de stadigvæk var i stand til at anrette tab blandt de britiske bombefly. Mod Dessau afsendte No. 1, 3, 6 og 8 Group i alt 526 fly, hvoraf 505 hævdede at have bombet målet. 18 af disse fly vendte ikke tilbage, hvilket giver en tabsprocent på 3.4. Ruten til Dessau gik ud over frontlinien mellem Düsseldorf og Köln med nordøstlig kurs, nord om Kassel i retning af Brunswick og nord om Magdeburg for at lade som om man ville angribe Berlin. Midt mellem Berlin og Magdeburg ændrede bombeflyene kurs stik mod syd for at anflyve Dessau fra nord. Efter bombningen gik ruten vest om Erfurt og videre syd mod Nürnberg, som blev passeret vestom med ny kursændring, hvor man fløj ud af tysk domineret område mellem Karsruhe og Stuttgart. Tilbageflyvningen foregik over Frankrig. Styrken til Dessau blev dækket af en Mandrel skærm, som opererede 30 km fra frontlinien. Mandrelskærmen blev udført af 2 Halifaxes fra No. 171 Squadron og 3 Stirlings og 9 Halifaxes fra No. 199 Squadron og var på plads i 15-17.000 fods højde i tidsrummet 19.35 til 21.30 mellem 51.10'N 06.17'E og 50.11'N 06.17'E. Støjsenderne var i funktion fra klokken 19.25 til 21.40. En tolvte Halifax måtte, på grund af tekniske vanskeligheder med bl.a. den kunstige horisont samt API'en, vende om før missionen blev gennemført. Mandrell skærmen blev fremstillet af følgende besætninger: No. 171 Squadron Halifax III NA112 F/O P J Townsend 17.18 23.28 Halifax III NA673 W/O A Digby 17.09 00.05 No. 199 Squadron Stirling III LJ542 S/Ldr J J M Button 17.01 00.45 Stirling III LJ516 F/Lt R E Lind 17.38 00.36 Stirling III LL568 F/Lt E McNamara 17.05 00.08 Halifax III RG381 S/Ldr W D W Knight 16.59 00.07 Halifax III PN373 F/O C Arkinstall 15.58 00.31 Halifax III RG375 F/O A N Ward 17.00 06.27 Halifax III RG373 F/Lt E E Harker 17.04 23.50 Halifax III RG388 W/O W L Porter 18.11 23.56 Halifax III RG387 F/O W E Brooks 17.03 00.15 Halifax III NR254 W/O W Sharples 17.02 18.43 Halifax III PN375 F/Lt P Chilcott 17.04 00.42 Halifax III RG376 F/O M S Paddon 17.10 23.42 Halifax III NR243 P/O P Brown 17.05 23.41 Yderligere støtte blev givet af af en Window styrke, der angreb Münster og Dortmund.
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