Summary:
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The 401st provided three 12 ship squadrons to make up the 94th Combat Wing "A" unit. The Group also led the 1st Division on this mission, with Colonel Bowman as Air Commander. While the Lead and Lows Squadrons were forced to bomb using PFF (radar) techniques because of heavy cloud cover, some of the crews saw strikes on the Cologne marshalling yards, the primary target, through breaks in the clouds. The lead aircraft of the High Squadron experienced a bomb rack malfunction at the point of release, and the Squadron was forced to return to Deenethorpe with their bombs. No enemy fighters appeared, but flak was intense and accurate. Four 401st ships received major flak damage, and two aircrewmen were wounded, one seriously. The 1st Air Division as a whole lost four aircraft to flak, and 293 others received flak damage. A total of 14 1st Division crewmen were killed and 15 were wounded.
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