Fly-by - World War II Photography

16/10/2024

📸 (c) Rob Hendriks - Fly-by.nl

31/03/2024

FORGOTTEN... BUT NOT FORGOTTEN... 31-3-1943

On 31 March 1943 the VIII Bomber Command of the U.S. Army Air Forces executed Mission No. 48, a bomb raid on the Wilton-Fijenoord Shipyards in Schiedam. A total of six Bombardment Groups of the VIII Bomber Command participated in the mission. 78 B-17F Flying Fortresses and 24 B-24D Liberators took off from various airbases in the UK, all carrying a deadly bomb load of numerous 1.000 lbs. General Purpose bombs.

Of the 102 bombers that took off that day, four failed to return resulting in 16 deaths, 8 wounded and 10 missing crew members. Some other bombers returned early due to mechanical failures or battle damage. Only 33 bombers reached the target area and bombed their bombs over Schiedam and Rotterdam. The other bombers aborted the mission due to overcast clouds over the target area.

Due to various unforeseen circumstances, the mission ended in enormous tragedy. Many of the bombs that were dropped missed the target and ended up in the Bospolder-Tussendijken district in Rotterdam, causing at least 450 deaths. In the shadow of the German bombing of Rotterdam on May 14, 1940, this bombing is called "the forgotten bombardment".

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In the previous months I've been researching hundreds of documents about this mission. I created a website (www.rotterdam 1943.nl) about Mission No. 48 (the raid om Rotterdam, 31 March 1943). At this website you will find extensive information on the mission.

Follow my page: Rotterdam 31 March 1943 to stay tuned for updates.

04/01/2024

For all our fans interested in aviation and WWII, this is really a “must see”! Great stuff by Joost de Raaf.

Mission 760: The Largest Air Strike of the WarWith Joost de RaafPart of 8th Air Force Week 2 on WW2TVhttps://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDG3XyxGI5lDgqVS0YC0g...