Kassel — Railroad Yards

Mission Narrative

New Year's Day 1945 found the 351st Bomb Group in the air once again, returning to Kassel's railroad yards. The 94th "A" Group dispatched 38 aircraft, including 2 PFF Pathfinder ships and 2 flying spares, as the lead formation of the 94th Combat Wing. The Lead and Low Squadrons attacked Kassel using PFF radar with visual assist through breaks in the cloud, while the High Squadron hit the marshalling yard at Giessen. One 351st aircraft (M-650) was hit by flak and made a forced landing in Belgium.

While the 351st was over Germany, the Luftwaffe launched Operation Bodenplatte — a surprise mass attack on Allied airfields in Belgium, France, and the Netherlands that destroyed nearly 300 Allied aircraft on the ground. The 8th Air Force's bombers from England were already en route and largely unaffected. Bodenplatte proved to be a pyrrhic victory: the Allies replaced their losses within days, while the Luftwaffe lost approximately 300 irreplaceable pilots — many experienced instructors pulled from training units. After January 1, 1945, the Luftwaffe was effectively finished as a coherent fighting force.

For Carl, this was his seventeenth mission — past the halfway point of his combat tour, on the first day of what would prove to be the final year of the war.

Strategic Context

January 1, 1945, marked the Luftwaffe's last gasp. Operation Bodenplatte destroyed Allied aircraft on the ground but cost the Luftwaffe its remaining experienced pilots. The Battle of the Bulge was winding down — the German offensive had been contained, and the Allies were preparing their counterattack. The war's end was approaching, though months of hard fighting remained.