Kassel — Henschel Armored Vehicle Plant

Mission Narrative

On September 22, 1944, the 351st Bomb Group shifted from oil targets to strike the Henschel armored vehicle works at Kassel, one of Germany's most important tank production facilities — the primary manufacturer of Tiger I and Tiger II heavy tanks. The group dispatched 38 aircraft as part of the 94th "A" Combat Wing, including three PFF Pathfinder ships equipped with H2X radar.

Weather conditions required blind bombing. Fighter support was good — a welcome contrast to the savage air battles of September 11 and 12 — and the Lead Box dropped its bombs on Kassel using H2X radar. Results could not be observed through the cloud cover.

This mission was the first of three strikes against the Henschel complex in a single week; the 8th Air Force would return on September 27 and 28, and the cumulative effect of the three raids was assessed as causing "very heavy destruction" to the tank factory. The September 27 mission would become infamous as one of the war's worst disasters for a single bomb group, when the 445th BG lost 25 of 35 aircraft in minutes to massed German fighter attack — though the 351st was not involved in that catastrophe.

Strategic Context

The shift to the Henschel tank works reflected the 8th Air Force's dual-track strategy in fall 1944: maintaining pressure on oil targets while also striking armored vehicle production. The Wehrmacht was desperate for replacement tanks, particularly on the Eastern Front. The Henschel works produced the fearsome Tiger tanks, and reducing this output complemented the oil campaign's goal of immobilizing German armored forces. On the ground, Operation Market Garden was underway in the Netherlands (launched September 17), and the broader Allied advance was encountering stiffening resistance along the western frontier.