Death Over Paris

I understand that bridge is hard to repair and there for highly defended.
But couldn't you just bomb the straight section of the rail line at low
altitude for accuracy and destroy 100 mile of rail line be just as
effective? One can pick and choose rail sections that are not defended. In
the age of mechanized warfare with fast moving front line, even few days of
obstructing supply line can spell disaster for the enemy.

Emilio.

"ArtKramr" wrote in message
...
Subject: Death Over Paris
From: "Emilio"
Date: 8/4/2004 3:51 PM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

The defenses were brutal and out of the 56 B-26's that went out that day

What was it Art, German fighter defense or AAA guns? Paris is not too
far
inland, was there a US fighter escort that day? I read that there were
practically no air defenses by the Germans over the Normandy during the
D-day.

Emilio.

"ArtKramr" wrote in message
...
Death Over Paris

On preparation for D-Day the 344th was hitting bridges and rail lines
leading
to Omaha Beach. A critical target was the Paris RR bridge which allowed
vast
amounts of train traffic to move west toward Omaha. We hit the Paris RR
bridge
on the morning 28 May, 1944. The defenses were brutal and out of the 56
B-26's
that went out that day, 5 were were shot down over the target with a
loss
of 31
aircrew.

We lost 4 from the 495th squadron including the crews of Seale,
Woodrum,
Peterson and Shewel. The fifth loss was Reynolds crew of the 497th
squadron.

5 out of 56. No survivors. There were a lot of empty bunks that night.
It
was a
bad day over Paris.

But we got the bridge.


Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer



It was all flak, no fighters. We had no air cover but we didn't need it.
Not an
enemy fighter in sight.


Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer

"Emilio" wrote in message
...
I understand that bridge is hard to repair and there for highly defended.
But couldn't you just bomb the straight section of the rail line at low
altitude for accuracy and destroy 100 mile of rail line be just as
effective?

Railway track can be quickly replaced and you'd need every bomber
in Europe to destroy 100 miles of it.

One can pick and choose rail sections that are not defended. In
the age of mechanized warfare with fast moving front line, even few days
of
obstructing supply line can spell disaster for the enemy.


Sure but if you tear up 100 yards of rail lines they can
be replaced overnight. Knock down a 100 yard bridge
and its closed for weeks or months

Keith

"ArtKramr" wrote in message
...
Death Over Paris

On preparation for D-Day the 344th was hitting bridges and rail lines
leading
to Omaha Beach. A critical target was the Paris RR bridge which allowed
vast
amounts of train traffic to move west toward Omaha. We hit the Paris RR
bridge
on the morning 28 May, 1944. The defenses were brutal and out of the 56
B-26's
that went out that day, 5 were were shot down over the target with a loss
of 31
aircrew.

We lost 4 from the 495th squadron including the crews of Seale, Woodrum,
Peterson and Shewel. The fifth loss was Reynolds crew of the 497th
squadron.

5 out of 56. No survivors. There were a lot of empty bunks that night. It
was a
bad day over Paris.

But we got the bridge.


Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer


F*ck me, Jonah! Remind me never to fly with you.

You must have flown with just about every casualty in the USAAF.