This was a night incendiary mission involving 32 planes from the 6th Bomb Group:
The fifth and last Blitz mission was a repeat performance at Nagoya on the night of 18-19 March. The bomb load was mixed: 4,883 X 100 lbs and 135 X 500 lb incendiaries were carried. Enemy opposition was moderate with two planes damaged by flak.
[Pirate’s Log, p. 33]
20th Af Mission 44
| Date: | 18 March 1945 |
| Code Name: | Microscope #3 |
| Target: | Nagoya Urban Area |
| Participating Units: | 73rd Bombardment Wing 313th B.W. 314th B.W. |
| Number of A/C Airborne: | 310 |
| % A/C Bombing Primary: | 94% (290 Primary, 0 Secondary, 0 Last Resort and Opportunity) |
| Type of Bombs and Fuzes: | |
| Tons of Bombs Dropped: | |
| Time Over Primary: | 190304K – 190548K |
| Altitude of Attack: | 4,500 – 9,000 |
| Weather Over Target: | 2/10 |
| Total A/C Lost: | 1 |
| Resume of Mission: | 82,000,000 square feet (1890 acres or 2.95 square miles) destroyed. Total damage to Nagoya from missions 41and 44 – 139,800,000 square feet (3200 acres or 5.0 square miles). Twenty aircraft non-effective. One aircraft ditched on way back. Enemy air opposition weak – 44 attacks no claims. AA medium to heavy, meager to moderate, inaccurate. Radar control indicated for first time by very accurate tracking by searchlights. Average bomb load 13,144 lbs. Average gas reserve 1085 gallons. |
