340th Bomb Group History

340th Bombardment Group History

340th BG Patch

340th BG Squadron Insignia
	486th B.S.	487th B.S.	488th B.S.	489th B.S.
	Click on the squadron insignia above for links to digitized squadron histories

March 13, 1945 Mission to Perca Railroad Bridge

Squadron War Diary

340th HQ Diary Yesterday's [March 13th] missions consisted of a successful attack on the Perca road bridge in the Po Valley and a nickeling mission in the Bologna area.

486th Missions on both yesterday's and today's targets got by with practically no opposition from the enemy, but were somewhat bothered by clouds. Nevertheless, the TNT was neatly placed where it would do the most damage.

487th A railroad bridge at Perca in Northern Italy was the target for twelve of our bombers today. Take off was at 10:15 hours. The formation was over the bridge at 12:25 and dropped their bombs from 11100', but not very successfully. The first box cratered tracks west of bridge. The second box crossed the east approach. The first box dropped on 1st pass, 2nd box on second run over the objective. No anti-aircraft fire or other enemy opposition was encountered, chalking up another "milk run" for the boys.

488th Not assigned to this mission

489th The Perca railroad bridge was hit by two patterns on the east span, two patterns hit over, one pattern cratered the track to the west, and the last pattern possibly cratered the east approach. The bridge and the trackage appeared passable prior to the attack, but after the bombing the photos show that the east span had been damaged although it is not down.

Target in 1945

Target Today

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Squadron	War Diary
340th HQ Diary	Yesterday's [March 13th] missions consisted of a successful attack on the Perca road bridge in the Po Valley and a nickeling mission in the Bologna area.
486th	Missions on both yesterday's and today's targets got by with practically no opposition from the enemy, but were somewhat bothered by clouds. Nevertheless, the TNT was neatly placed where it would do the most damage.
487th	A railroad bridge at Perca in Northern Italy was the target for twelve of our bombers today. Take off was at 10:15 hours. The formation was over the bridge at 12:25 and dropped their bombs from 11100', but not very successfully. The first box cratered tracks west of bridge. The second box crossed the east approach. The first box dropped on 1st pass, 2nd box on second run over the objective. No anti-aircraft fire or other enemy opposition was encountered, chalking up another "milk run" for the boys.
488th	Not assigned to this mission
489th	The Perca railroad bridge was hit by two patterns on the east span, two patterns hit over, one pattern cratered the track to the west, and the last pattern possibly cratered the east approach. The bridge and the trackage appeared passable prior to the attack, but after the bombing the photos show that the east span had been damaged although it is not down.

Crew Lists and Mission Reports

Crew List 486th

Crew List 489th

340th BG Squadron Insignia
	486th B.S.	487th B.S.	488th B.S.	489th B.S.
	Click on the squadron insignia above for links to digitized squadron histories