Bombing of Wiener Neustadt in World War II
Wiener Neustadt World War II bombings | |||||
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Part of Strategic bombing campaigns in Europe | |||||
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Wiener Neustadt, a city in Austria, was the target of bombing raids during World War II by the Allies.
Background
[edit]The targets in and around Wiener Neustadt included the marshalling yards, the Wiener Neustädter Flugzeugwerke (WNF) aircraft factory (effectively an extension of Messerschmitt) and the Raxwerke plants of Wiener Neustädter Lokomotivfabrik (two of which used forced labor from the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp).
The three WNF plants (W.N.F. Fischamend, W.N.F. Klagenfurt, W.N.F. Bad Vöslau) were targets of the Combined Bomber Offensive against the German aircraft industry. WNF manufactured Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters and repaired Junkers bombers and heavy fighters (German: Zerstörer).[1] The Hirtenberger Patronen Zündhütchen und Metallwarenfabrik was an ammunition factory nearby.
Date | Target | Notes |
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August 13, 1943 | 61 B-24 Liberators in the first Ninth Air Force raid on Austria (using bombers on loan from the 8AF surviving from Operation Tidal Wave)[2] targeted the Wiener-Neustadt aircraft factory as part of the B-24 part of Operation Juggler postponed from August 7.[3] | |
October 1, 1943 | 73 B-24's based at Oudna Air Base outside of Tunis, Tunisia, temporarily on loan from the Eighth Air Force bombed the Wiener Neustadt Bf 109 factory.[4][5] | |
November 2, 1943 | ![]() | |
February 20–25, 1944 | Operations during Big Week destroyed 200 aircraft at the Bf 109 plants in Wiener-Neustadt.[9] | |
March 7, 1944 | The 317th Bombardment Squadron bombed the Wiener Neustadt aircraft factory.[10] | |
April 23, 1944 | The 317th BS bombed the Wiener Neustadt aircraft factory. | |
May 9, 1944 | ![]() | |
May 10, 1944 | ![]() | |
May 24, 1944 | The 317th BS bombed the Wiener Neustadt aircraft factory, and the 456th BG bombed "Wöllersdorf Air Drome Stores and Machine Shops".[11] | |
May 29, 1944 | The 32nd BS[12] bombed the Wiener Neustadt Wollersdorf AID.[clarification needed]. "Successful attacks on [the] Wiener-Neustadter complex have raised oil to high priority" (allied intelligence annex to a May 31 bombing order).[13] WNF Bad Vöslau manufactured Bf 109 components and was undamaged as of March 5, 1944. | |
December 27, 1944 | marshalling yard | ![]() |
February 15, 1945 | main station | ![]() |
March 12, 1945 | marshalling yards | ![]() |
March 14, 1945 | ![]() | |
March 15, 1945 | ![]() | |
March 16, 1945 | marshalling yards | The 47th Bomb Wing (H) 450th Group [16] bombed the marshalling yards using a B-24. 238 x 500 lb G.P. bombs dropped. 197 bursts plotted. Altitude 21,140'. |
March 20, 1945 | ![]() | |
March 26, 1945 | The 32nd BS bombed the marshalling yards. |
References
[edit]- ^ Wernfried, Haberfellner; Schroeder Walter (1993). Wiener Neustädter Flugzeugwerke. Entstehung, Aufbau und Niedergang eines Flugzeugwerkes. Weishaupt Verlag, Graz. ISBN 3-7059-0000-5.
- ^ a b Ambrose, Stephen E. (2001). The Wild Blue: The Men and boys who flew the B-24s over Germany. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 229. ISBN 0-7432-0339-9.
- ^ Craven, Wesley Frank; Cate, James Lea, eds. (1949). The Army Air Forces in World War II, Vol. II. Europe: Torch to Pointblank August 1942 to December 1943 (PDF) (Reprint ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 483–484. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 10, 2015. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
- ^ Stewart, Carroll (Cal) (1996). Ted's Travelling Circus: 93rd Bombardment Group (H), USAAF, 1942 - 45 (1st ed.). Lincoln, Nebraska: Sun/World Communications. p. 244.
- ^ Jones, Gregg (Winter 2015). "Last Roll of the Dice: The Final Flight of Jerk's Natural". Friends Journal'. 37 (4): 39. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
- ^ "The 99th Bomb Group in World War II".
- ^ "Air University". Archived from the original on March 24, 2009. Retrieved June 8, 2009.
- ^ Ordway, Frederick I III; Sharpe, Mitchell R (1979). The Rocket Team. Apogee Books Space Series 36. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell. pp. 74, 141. ISBN 1-894959-00-0.
- ^ Mitcham, Samuel W. (2007). Eagles of the Third Reich: Men of the Luftwaffe in World War II. Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-3405-9.
- ^ "317th Bomb Squadron Roster". Mike Lam.
- ^ a b "The 464th Bombardment Group in WWII - Our Missions". Archived from the original on March 24, 2009. Retrieved April 26, 2009.
- ^ Thompson, Boyd. "301st Bomb Group Mission Summary of the: 32nd, 352nd, 353rd and 419th Bomb Squadrons". 32nd Bomb Squadron, 1942 -1945. Archived from the original on February 11, 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2009.
- ^ Bari (1944). Fifteenth Air Force, The Air Battle of Ploesti. Italy. p. 27.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) (cited by Stout p. 137) and- The Air Battle of Ploesti Written in the Skies Over Romania by U.S. Fifteenth Air Force and 205 Group (RAF) Between 5 April and 19 August. 941st Engineering Battalion. 1945. p. 108.
- ^ "485th MISSIONS". 485th Bomb Group Association. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved June 8, 2009.
- ^ McKillop, Jack. "Combat Chronology of the US Army Air Forces, March 1945". Archived from the original on June 2, 2013.
- ^ "Official Home of the 450th Bomb Group Memorial Association". www.450thbg.com. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
- ^ McKillop, Jack. "Combat Chronology of the US Army Air Forces, March 1944". Archived from the original on February 11, 2009.