Any historian have details of USAAF operation against Hamburg, April 7th 1945? I've only found one mention: that 120 German student pilots were sent up in an attempt to crash into US bombers on a 1000-bomber American raid.
I'm working through my father's army trunk and found this letter. I can include picture to prove I'm not being dramatic, making up dates. 'Hap' (short for 'Happy,' his full nickname) wrote the letter the day after Hiroshima bomb. Mailed the day before Nagasaki bomb. He was scheduled to report back to the USAAF in Atlantic City Aug 15th the day Japan surrendered. Suspect he showed up, they gave him his last paycheck and told him to just head on back to the shuffleboard, golfing, drinking, and card games.
Not sure when this letter caught up with my father. As member ASF in European theater, 1944-45, he was early transfer to Pacific and his friend seems to think he was still in Europe. I believe my father said he was on a transport in the Indian Ocean on this date, after boarding in Marseille. Instead of heading to original destination (Okinawa?) it kept sailing and deposited him somewhere near San Francisco.
S/Sgt. Stephen A. Kiss 3230065323 McPherson Ave.Metuchen N.J.
ToLt. Ken M. O’Brien 0-1558968848th Ord Depot Co.,A.P.O. – 408 c/o Postmaster,N.Y.N.Y.
Postmarked Metuchen Aug 8 5 PM 1945 N.J. across a hand-drawn “Free” in corner where stamp usually goes
Aug 7, 1945
Howdy Ken,
Yep! Back in the good old U.S.A. again. Boy this boy really is a lucky guy.
Saw your mother & Dad. They’re in the best of health.
The old town the same as ever. Been drinking, playing golf, taking in shows & baseball games, playing cards & shuffle board with the gang.
On April 7th we got hit over Hamburg. Were trying to make it to Denmark but had to bail out over the North Sea. Boy that water sure is cold.
Saw five chutes only three of us got picked up believe the other two drowned & five got killed in the crash. They picked us up near a small Island called Pellworm. When they took us there the people sorta banged us around before the German soldiers got them under control. Never a dull moment.
From there to some very nice cells in Husinn(?) & Pennaburg (probably Pinneberg?) From there to Stalag #1 at Barth, Germany, a regular prison camp. Really only had it rough for about 2 ½ weeks. Seeing what some of the boys had to go thru I sure didn’t have it to(sic) bad. (crossed-out: Well it was one way)
After we were liberated we flew to France to Camp Lucky Strike. From there by boat to N.Y. arrived in the U.S.A. 12th of June. Got home on June 15th (in both cases he crossed out July and rewrote June) Have to report to Atlantic City on Aug 15th.
Boy what a picnic I’m really having. Well Ken it was one way of getting a good furlough from the government.
How’s tricks with you old man? Are they working you pretty hard? How’s the gals over there? Meet any of the boys over there?
Well Ken that’s all the poop from the group over here.
Hey Mug(?) how about keeping me posted on the happenings over there. Will do the same.
Well Ken best of luck to you.
Your pal,
“Hap”
April 7th 1945 was 8th Air Force Mission #931, targeting ordnance depots, marshalling yards and airfields - see also the Missions Page of the 8th Air Force Historical Society for a summary and further statistics. The US bombers were met by heavy Luftwaffe opposition including Me 262 jet fighters and over 100 Bf 109s of a unit formed specifically for ramming attacks usually referred to as Sonderkommando Elbe (sometimes Rammkommando Elbe or Schulungslehrgang Elbe).
The unit was the brainchild of Hajo Hermann, a last ditch attempt to inflict heavy losses on US bombers and force the USAAF to at least pause its attacks through both the physical losses and morale effect of ramming attacks. The attacks were not intended as a suicide mission; the intention was for the fighter pilot to bail out or force land after ramming his target, though obviously it was a desperate and dangerous tactic. The pilots of Sonderkommando Elbe were volunteers, ranging from experienced pilots to barely trained students; 188 Bf 109s were scraped together but not all were serviceable, only 143 took off on April 7th and not all reached their targets. 17 8th Air Force bombers were lost in total, perhaps 13 due to ramming attack; 45 Bf 109s were shot down or destroyed during their attack, 24 of the pilots were killed in action. Though the 8th Air Force losses were higher than average for that point of the war they were nowhere near significant enough to halt operations, and the ramming attacks were referred to as accidental collisions, having no particular morale effect. The Luftwaffe did not attempt another such mission.
Stephen A. Kiss was Radio Countermeasures (RCM) operator on B-17 serial number 43-38868 of the 728th Bomb Squadron, 452nd Bomb Group, 3rd Air Division of the 8th Air Force, according to that page his aircraft was one of the ones rammed by a Sonderkommando Elbe aircraft.
Details of the operations taken from linked pages plus Day Fighters In Defence Of The Reich: A War Diary, 1942-45, Donald Caldwell, and The Last Flight Of The Luftwaffe: The Suicide Attacks On The Eighth Air Force, 7 April 1945, Adrian Weir. Bomb Group Association are often a good source for further information, e.g. The 452nd Bomb Group Association, or Facebook groups (452nd Bomb Group at Deopham Green, 452nd Bombardment Group).