· RUEL SK

The Preparation
19
445 th had already bombed today's target several times without encountering difficulty, so
this time, too, they expected another grand "milkrun." Miner commiserated with Bennett
and his crew on their concern about missing this mission.
It was a maximum effort for the group, with four 10-ship squadrons. Major Donald
McCoy, 700th Squadron commanding officer, was the command pilot, riding for the
occasion with Capt. John Chilton's crew. Captain James Graham was deputy command
pilot, flying in Capt. Web Uebelhoer's ship.
The 445 th Group was to lead the Second Combat Wing, the other groups in the wing
being respectively the 389 th and the 453 rd Groups.
The S-2 Intelligence officer took over and reported the expected opposition from flak
areas and fighters. Sixty-six heavy and 98 light antiaircraft guns were defending Kassel,
which was the target today. The S-2 highlighted the approach toward the target, the bomb
run and showed photos, drawings, and maps of the Henschel plant. He stressed that the
disposition of enemy fighters was heavily weighted in favor of tactical defense.
This fighter opposition would be in the hands of the Little Friends - one Fighter
Group (FG) ofP47s, one FG ofP38s, and three FGs ofP51s.
The Weather officer stood up and gave his forecast for the successive stages of the
mission, from take-off to landing at base.
First Lieutenant John E. French annotated his pilot briefing leaflet with the basic info
of the mission reviewed by the briefing officer. Take-off on runway 21; group assembly
altitude fixed at 12,000 feet; red-green assembly flares, the code name to throw chaff was
Lazy Bones; at the IP, the call for visual bombing was Ham Bone; Pea Soup was for a
Pathfinder (PFF) drop. Bombing altitude was 23,000 feet.
Lieutenant Snidow reviewed his notes - engine start up time, taxiing time and
position, take-off time, assembly points, weather and fighter cover. He felt greatly relieved
by the combination of fighter protection and extended cloud cover for most of the trip. All
in all, it did not look too bad.
The Navigation officer gave a time "hack" for synchronization of the watches. There
was a cal1 to attention as the group commander departed. The crews were dismissed to
attend separate briefings where pilots, bombardiers, navigators, and radio operators could
gather all sorts of information relating to their specialization.