Old enemies remember the Kassel Mission

People who have shared an exceptional experience have a special bond -- classmates who return to the old school for alumni reunions, teammates who together forged a championship season, and men and women who have been together through a military campaign.

It seems that the more serious the experience, the stronger the bond. In the case of men who have fought a wartime battle the bond is very strong, and the bond is not just between men who have been comrades in arms. It includes members of the enemy army who went through the same battle.

This phenomenon was demonstrated in 1984, when survivors of the U.S. 445th Bomber Group met with survivors of the German Luftwaffe Storm Group in Germany to dedicate a memorial at Friedlos, Hesse, West Germany, to the U.S and German airmen, who were killed during the air battle that is now referred to as "The Kassel Mission."

On Sept. 27, 1944, the 445th BG joined 19 other air groups of the 2nd Bombardment Division, stationed in England, to make up a force of some 315 four engine, long range B-24 Liberator bombers.

The mission was to make an all-out assault on the Henschel engine and vehicle plants at Kassel, Germany, and targets in Cologne, Mainz, Ludwigshafen, and Mannheim.

The 445th held a high reputation during the months following D-Day, and led all Eighth B-24 groups in accuracy. By this time of the war the German Air Force had been badly demoralized.

There had been at least eight bombing raids on Kassel prior to this Kassel Mission. Severe damage was inflicted each time, but 30 days later the Kassel plants would be up and running again.

Some recent missions had been barely challenged by fighter planes, and this mission was viewed as being somewhat of a "milk run" -- the airmen expected to make their bomber runs and be back to their base at Tibenham, England in time for dinner. Instead, The Kassel Mission turned out to be a disaster -- the highest group loss in 8th AF history!

Beginning at dawn, the 445th sent up 37 planes that day. Two of the planes aborted during the take-off. The remaining 35 planes joined the other bomber groups on the bombing run to Kassel.

Because of a cloudy sky and poor visibility the planes of the 445th deviated from their course and dropped their bombs on a secondary target near the village of Rosdorf.

After dropping their bombs the group flew south, according to their flight plan, before taking up their heading for home. For some reason, (apparently a navigation error) the 445th became separated from the main group of bombers, and were suddenly very much alone, without the support of the greater group of bombers with its fighter protection of P-38s, P-47s, and P-51s.

The German Luftwaffe had refined its tactics for air combat by September 1944, due to very heavy losses.

Fighter pilots of the FW 190 Storm Group were ordered to: a. to look for isolated flights of four engine bombers without fighter protection, b. delay opening fire on a bomber until within 150 to 200 meters, and then attack -- first the rear gunner, then the engines on just one side of the plane (the torque of both engines on only one side of the plane would cause the plane to crash) c. if gunfire was ineffective the Luftwaffe pilots were ordered to ram the bomber. (This happened to at least one of the B-24's on the Kassel Mission).

The FW190s that attacked the 445th that day were heavily armored, with iron plates around the cockpit of the plane, as well as the fuel tanks. They were so heavy that they required double the fuel of a conventional FW 190, and so slow that they were no match for American fighters in a dogfight.

But in attacking unescorted bombers they were very effective. Gunners of the 445th reported hitting the Luftwaffe planes repeatedly with withering fire, to no avail, because of the additional armor plate.

The entire air battle involving the 445th did not last longer than three minutes. No sooner did the bomber pilots learn that they were separated from the main group, when it seemed as if the entire German Air Force was coming at them.

German fighter planes from a number of bases came in waves of 10 and 15 to attack the planes of the 445th. Several fighter planes would pick out a single bomber and direct all their firepower on that one plane.

Survivors described the scene, "fantastic -- a sky full of blazing aircraft, parachutes, smoke and the debris of battle."

In that three minutes of hell it was estimated that 90 enemy fighters shot down 25 Liberators and damaged most of the rest of the 35 planes of the 445th, before the P-51's of the 361st Fighter Group arrived to drive off the FW 190s.

Of the five badly damaged Liberators, two managed to make the special "lame duck" runway at Manston, England, two others made belly landings at a French base, and a fifth made it back to Tibenham, in England.

A McCookite, Capt. Wayne Allen, was one of the airmen at the airfield in Tibenham who were waiting for the return of planes from the Kassel Mission. (Wayne was serving as Armament Officer at Tibenham, so was not flying with the Liberators on this bombing raid.) Instead of waves of bombers returning there were but four planes that approached the base, three flying above, escorting the fourth.

They made a wide turn, allowing the lower plane to make its descent. That plane, badly damaged and barely keeping aloft with its two remaining engines, fired red flares, indicating that there were wounded aboard, as it came over the field. Instead of landing, however, the plane continued its glide path to the west and made a successful, crash landing at another base five miles west of Tibenham. Only then did the three remaining planes, all with some damage, make their landing.

Immediately, MPs surrounded the three crews and isolated them for debriefing. From Paul Dickerson's account: "The debriefing officer was Col. Jimmy Stewart, of motion picture fame."

Stewart was veteran of many combat missions, and had led the 445th on missions. He was aware of what could happen and seemed to understand as he calmed the debriefing meeting and listened intently."

Then it was time for the evening meal and the men were told they could leave. They went to the mess hall, where food had been prepared for several hundred returning airmen. There were only about two dozen men to eat. "That meal was a solemn one in that big empty mess hall. No one was talking."

Of the 236 crew members aboard the 30 Liberators destroyed in the air battle, 118 were captured and made prisoners of war. 118 crew members were killed in action.

The airmen who para-chuted that day and were picked up by German soldiers, were relatively well treated; their wounds were quickly and properly cared for. The airmen captured by civilians did not fare as well. Many were beaten severely, and some were killed before the military forces stepped in to supervise their treatment.

The War Memorial to the Kassell Mission came about largely because of the efforts of one German, Walter Hassenpflug, who was a boy of 10 in 1944. He watched the great air battle from his home near Freidlos. Hassenpflug spent years documenting the fate of all aircraft, which were engaged in that battle. In 1984 survivors from the 8th Air Force and the Luftwaffe Storm came together to dedicate that Memorial to the men, Americans and Germans alike, who lost their lives that fateful day.

All costs for the site preparation came from donations by the Germans. The Americans assisted in construction of the site. Smaller stones on either side of a huge central stone (from Denmark) bear plaques listing the names of the 118 Americans and 25 Germans killed that tragic day. Survivors of the battle have met on a more or less regular basis since 1984 to honor their fallen comrades.

No more do they view each other as adversaries. Rather, they consider other survivors, German and American alike, as brothers who have shared a life defining experience and join in vowing that future generations will never have to repeat that experience.

Source: The Kassel Mission Reports, from the 8th Air Force History. This report and a film on the Kassel Mission will be on loan to the McCook Army Air Base Historical Society.