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John Speasmaker-Family
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Speasmaker, Philip, MSgt USAF(Ret).
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Contact Info
Last Address West Jefferson
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WWII - European Theater of Operations/Central Europe Campaign (1945)
From Month/Year
March / 1945
To Month/Year
May / 1945
Description On March 22, 1945, the U.S. Third Army established a second salient, in addition to the one at Remagen, across the Rhine River at Oppenheim, 288 miles southwest of Berlin. The next day its troops also crossed the river at Boppard, 40 miles northwest of Oppenheim. Farther north, British and Canadian forces went across near Wesel, 65 miles northwest of Bonn. Ninth Air Force and Royal Air Force troop carriers and gliders dropped an American and a British airborne division north of Wesel on March 24, while the U.S. Ninth Army crossed the river 10 miles southeast of Wesel. The next day the U.S. First Army began an advance into Germany from Remagen, just south of Bonn, and on March 26 the Seventh Army crossed the Rhine River north of Mannheim, about 25 miles south of Oppenheim. Five days later, on March 31, French troops crossed the Rhine 10 miles south of Mannheim.
Before the Allied armies began crossing the Rhine in force, Allied air forces bombed and strafed German positions in the contested areas along the river. Heavy bombers also flew battlefield interdiction missions between March 21 and 24, before returning to strategic bombardment missions against targets in Germany. Although little of strategic value remained because of the destruction wrought by the
combined bomber offensive, oil refineries and fuel depots remained primary targets.
The Luftwaffe could no longer effectively oppose the heavy bombers nor could it provide close air support for retreating German troops.
When fuel was available, the enemy continued to intercept Allied bomber formations with a few fighter aircraft. On the battle front, AAF fighter-bombers flew close air support and tactical reconnaissance missions for Allied forces, while medium bombers attacked bridges, trucks, troop concentrations, railroads, and airfields. Troop carrier and transport aircraft flew critically needed supplies to forward airfields that had been rebuilt by aviation engineers behind the advancing Allied armies. After delivering supplies, the pilots loaded wounded soldiers and liberated prisoners of war and returned them to the rear areas. The last mission of the AAF's heavy bombers in Europe involved flying supplies to the starving population in The Netherlands.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
March / 1945
To Month/Year
May / 1945
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
People You Remember 1st Lt. James Brown, Pilot, Oblong IL. - KIA, 2nd Lt. John Payleitner, Co-Pilot, Indianapolis, IN, - KIA, 1st Lt. Donald Hornbeck, Navigator, - WIA, 1st Lt. Joseph Smith, Bombardier, Earle, AR - KIA, F/O William Romeka, - WIA, T/Sgt, William Adams, TT, Buffalo, OK - KIA, T/Sgt Reginald Batchelder RO, - WIA, T/Sgt George Handy, TG, Returned,
Memories 379th Bomb Group Casualty Report: Dresden, Germany, February 14, 1945, Mission 278, Aircraft 44-8369, Crashed Landed in Belvoax, Belgium. The pilot, Co-pilot and Bombardier were killed in the crash. The top turret (TT) gunner died of wounds.
Dad reported that his jaw was broken and his ankle was probably broken. He was picked up by US Army ground troops and taken to a field hospital for treatment. He tells told us that he left the hospital without permission and caught a ride and returned to England on a C-47. He said he flew a few more missions but that was it for him. At his funeral the Air Force Chaplain said he was credited with more than 35 combat missions over Europe. He had been in combat since 1943. This was the second time dad was forced out of the sky. Dad said that his plane was so damaged in battle on an earlier mission that they landed at a recently liberated German airbase just outside of Paris shortly after Paris had been liberated.