March is the month that will be remembered for the crossing of the Rhine River. It was a month in which our ground forces made advances across the Reich, which was beyond the hopes of even the most avid optimists. The great Rhineland cities of Cologne, Boss, Frankfurt, Ludwigshaven and Mannheim had fallen and were left behind. Opposition was described as disorganized and our advances continued unchecked. The Wehrmacht seemed to be a broken army.

 

This Combat Wing as well as the rest of the Eighth Air Force had been concentrating on Communications targets for some time. The enemy-held Marshalling Yards west of the Rhine had been left in chaos and most of the Rhine bridges had been destroyed leaving enormous numbers of the enemy stranded on the wrong side of the Rhine. When the big push across the Rhine was accomplished, the Wehrmacht was denied the lateral movements of troops. Our ground forces advanced at will. Supply, not the enemy, seemed to be the biggest problem.

 

The 1st Combat Wing contributed much to the disorganization of the enemy. Never before had we completed so many missions. During the month we planned 27 missions, 25 of which were executed. Two missions were scrubbed before taking off, and were stood-down 4 times. It was a month of little rest for the Operations Section as we were already short-handed. Major McDaniel had to be drafted to Division to help them out, which left us with only 2 officers to plan the missions.

 

The weather seemed to be on the up-grade and visual bombing was accomplished on ten of these missions with good results. H2X methods were used on 12 missions. We bombed by GH twice before the break-through, but the rapid advances of our ground forces soon took us out of range of our GH missions. We were not able to use that method again.

 

Statistically, we had one of the best months in our history. We had been fighting abortives since the Combat Wing activated and it often appeared as though we were fighting a losing battle. But it later became apparent that little by little we were lowering our abortive rate. This month we have an enviable and impressive record. Only 0.5% of the forces scheduled failed to attack, which was the lowest in the Division. This figure, no doubt, accounts for the big smile the Engineering Officer has been wearing these days. He had often said that our Combat Wing would someday have the lowest percentage on record in the Division for any single month of aircraft returning early. Now that his prophecy had come true, he deserves to be congratulated.

 

2,451 aircraft were scheduled of which 2,439 attacked, dropping 6,405.1 tons of bombs. This 99.5% credit sorties of the aircraft scheduled, the highest in the Division.

 

Accurate flak information, good navigation, and Lady Luck contributed largely to our low rate of losses. Only 8 aircraft of the 2,439 sorties failed to return from these missions. Six of these aircraft were lost to flak. The cause of the remaining two, have not as yet been determined. This Combat Wing was not attacked by fighters during the month.

 

We started an experiment during the month. We stretched our necks out a bit and ordered the 381st Bomb Group to fly one Squadron with no ball turrets, the 91st Bomb Group to fly one Squadron with no waist guns and the 398th Bomb Group to fly one Squadron with no chin turrets. We are keeping records on gas consumption, manifold pressure, and RPM settings, with a view to adopting the best of the three conditions. We feel that one of the projects may save us many engine failures in the future, and also make it easier to carry a bigger bomb load at altitude. Results of these experiments will be available in April.

 

Colonel Marlin I. Carter came to us direct from the United States as temporary Executive Officer, to take the 1st Combat Wing Group Commander’s training course. After graduation he became Group Commanding Officer of the 351st Bomb Group. This made the 6th of our former Executive Officers to have become Group Commanders: Col. Henry W. Terry, 91st Bomb Group, T.R. Milton, 384th Bomb Group, Col. J.W. Wilson, 92nd Bomb Group, and Col. Carter, 351st Bomb Group, Lt. Col. L.P. Ensign, 398th Bomb Group, and Col. W.W. Dunlop, who took over control of a 9th Air Force Group but, who is now on duty in the United States.

 

This station was honored by a visit from the Lord Mayor of London, Sir Frank Alexander. He christened a new B-17, “The Tower of London”, with a bottle of water from the River Thames. After the christening, he was taken for his 1st airplane ride. He was very enthused with this experience and promised us another visit at a future date.

 

The 398th Group basketball team won the Eighth Air Force championship, which was held in Norwich. They breezed through the tournament with hardly any opposition. In the IK tournament they were beaten in the finals by the 2nd SAD. Both these teams were scheduled to go to Paris to compete in the ETO championship, which would be held in April.

 

The social activities were held to a minimum due to Operations. Lt. Paul Dreiling and William Hutchings, M/Sgt. Frank Livoti and Cpl. Hays were the lucky members of the organization who went to Paris on a 48-hour pass. Their activities consisted of wine, women and song, which is SOP for us now. Major Dewlen made the only reported sortie to London, which was also SOP.

 

We lost one member of our family, but gained another when Capt. David A. McCarthy, the Wing Navigator returned to the United States. He was replaced by Major James Delano, the former 381st Bomb Group Navigator.

We decided to enter the Station Softball League and staggered through one practice session.