| Wiener Neustadt World War II bombings | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Strategic bombing campaigns in Europe | |||||
| |||||
| Belligerents | |||||
 USAAF  RAF Bomber Command |  Luftwaffe | ||||
Wiener Neustadt, a city in Austria, was the target of bombing raids during World War II by the Allies.
| Wiener Neustadt World War II bombings | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Strategic bombing campaigns in Europe | |||||
| |||||
| Belligerents | |||||
| USAAF RAF Bomber Command | Luftwaffe | ||||
Wiener Neustadt, a city in Austria, was the target of bombing raids during World War II by the Allies.
The targets in and around Wiener Neustadt included the marshalling yards, the Wiener Neustädter Flugzeugwerke (WNF) aircraft factory (effectively an extension of Messerschmitt) and the Raxwerke plants of Wiener Neustädter Lokomotivfabrik (two of which used forced labor from the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp).
The three WNF plants (W.N.F. Fischamend, W.N.F. Klagenfurt, W.N.F. Bad Vöslau) were targets of the Combined Bomber Offensive against the German aircraft industry. WNF manufactured Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters and repaired Junkers bombers and heavy fighters (German: Zerstörer ). [1] The Hirtenberger Patronen Zündhütchen und Metallwarenfabrik was an ammunition factory nearby.
| Date | Target | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| August 13, 1943 | 61 B-24 Liberators in the first Ninth Air Force raid on Austria (using bombers on loan from the 8AF surviving from Operation Tidal Wave) [2] targeted the Wiener-Neustadt aircraft factory as part of the B-24 part of Operation Juggler postponed from August 7. [3] | |
| October 1, 1943 | 73 B-24's based at Oudna Air Base outside of Tunis, Tunisia, temporarily on loan from the Eighth Air Force bombed the Wiener Neustadt Bf 109 factory. [4] [5] | |
| November 2, 1943 |  The first mission by the US Fifteenth Air Force targeting the nearby Messerschmitt plant, including the 99th Bombardment Group on a 1,600 mile round trip, [6] dropped 312 tons [7] and hit the Raxwerke. [8] | |
| March 20–25, 1944 | Operations during Big Week destroyed 200 aircraft at the Bf 109 plants in Wiener-Neustadt. [9] | |
| March 7, 1944 | The 317th Bombardment Squadron bombed the Wiener Neustadt aircraft factory. [10] | |
| April 23, 1944 | The 317th BS bombed the Wiener Neustadt aircraft factory. | |
| May 9, 1944 | The 464th Bombardment Group bombed an aircraft factory. [11] | |
| May 10, 1944 | The 97th BG bombed an aircraft factory at Wiener Neustadt after the other groups turned back because of bad weather. Of 31 aircraft, 5 were shot down (including the B-17 Flying Fortress of Jacob E. Smart), and the unit earned the Distinguished Unit Citation. | |
| May 24, 1944 | The 317th BS bombed the Wiener Neustadt aircraft factory, and the 456th BG bombed "Wöllersdorf Air Drome Stores and Machine Shops". [11] | |
| May 29, 1944 | The 32nd BS [12] bombed the Wiener Neustadt Wollersdorf AID.[ clarification needed ]. "Successful attacks on [the] Wiener-Neustadter complex have raised oil to high priority" (allied intelligence annex to a May 31 bombing order). [13] WNF Bad Vöslau manufactured Bf 109 components and was undamaged as of March 5, 1944. | |
| December 27, 1944 | marshalling yard |  |
| February 15, 1945 | main station | The 485 BG bombed the main station. [14] |
| March 12, 1945 | marshalling yards | B-24s and B-17s bombed the Floridsdorf oil refinery and Wiener-Neustadt marshalling yards. |
| March 14, 1945 | George McGovern was one of the pilots who bombed the alternate target, the Wiener Neustadt marshaling yards, instead of the Vienna oil refinery. [2] : 228–9 | |
| March 15, 1945 | 109 B-17s bombed the oil refinery at Ruhland (the Fifteenth's deepest penetration into Germany); 103 others bomb the alternate target, the refinery at Kolin, Czechoslovakia. More than 470 bombers attacked targets in Austria, including Moosbierbaum, Schwechat, and Vienna/Floridsdorf oil refineries, and the marshalling yards at Wiener-Neustadt. [15] | |
| March 16, 1945 | marshalling yards | The 47th Bomb Wing (H) 450th Group [16] bombed the marshalling yards using a B-24. 238 x 500 lb G.P. bombs dropped. 197 bursts plotted. Altitude 21,140'. |
| March 20, 1945 | 760+ B-17s and B-24s, with fighter escort, bombed the Korneuburg and Kagran oil refineries in Austria, the tank works at Steyr, and marshalling yards at Wels, Sankt Pölten, Amstetten, Wiener-Neustadt, & Klagenfurt [17] | |
| March 26, 1945 | The 32nd BS bombed the marshalling yards. | |
Wiener Neustadt is a city located in the Steinfeld south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, in northeast Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administration of Wiener Neustadt-Land District. The city is the site of one of the world's oldest military academies, the Theresian Military Academy, which was established by Empress Maria Theresa of Austria in 1751 to train officers for the Austrian army.
The Pointblank directive authorised the initiation of Operation Pointblank, the code name for the part of the Allied Combined Bomber Offensive intended to cripple or destroy the German aircraft fighter strength, thus drawing it away from frontline operations and ensuring it would not be an obstacle to the invasion of Northwest Europe. The Pointblank directive of 14 June 1943 ordered RAF Bomber Command and the U.S. Eighth Air Force to bomb specific targets such as aircraft factories, and the order was confirmed when Allied leaders met at the Quebec Conference in August 1943. Up to that point, the RAF and USAAF had mostly been attacking the German industry in their own way – the British by broad night attacks on industrial areas, and the US in "precision attacks" by day on specific targets. The operational execution of the Directive was left to the commanders of the forces. As such, even after the directive, the British continued their night attacks. The majority of the attacks on German fighter production and combat with the fighters were conducted by the USAAF.
Raxwerke or Rax-Werke was a facility of the Wiener Neustädter Lokomotivfabrik at Wiener Neustadt in Lower Austria. During World War II, the company also produced lamps for Panzer tanks and anti-aircraft guns. Two Raxwerke plants employed several thousand forced laborers from the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp.
Activated in June 1943 as a heavy bombardment group. Trained with B-24 Liberators for duty overseas. Moved to Italy, December 1943 – January 1944. Began combat with Fifteenth Air Force in February 1944, operating chiefly against strategic targets until late in April 1945. Early operations included attacks against such objectives as marshalling yards, aircraft factories, railroad bridges, and airdromes in Italy, Austria, and Romania.
The 99th Air Base Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command (ACC) and its ACC subordinate organization, the United States Air Force Warfare Center. It is based at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada and also serves as the host wing at Nellis.
The 485th Air Expeditionary Wing is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to Air Combat Command. As a provisional unit, the 485 AEW may be inactivated or activated at any time by Air Combat Command. The wing was last known to be active during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 at Tabuk Regional Airport, Saudi Arabia, in 2003.
The 909th Air Refueling Squadron is part of the 18th Wing at Kadena Air Base, Japan. It operates the KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft conducting air refueling missions.
The 831st Bombardment Squadron was a squadron of the United States Army Air Forces. It was activated in 1942 as the 516th Bombardment Squadron and flew antisubmarine missions off the Atlantic coast as the 11th Antisubmarine Squadron. Later, it saw combat in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations as a Consolidated B-24 Liberator unit, where it earned a Distinguished Unit Citation during the strategic bombing campaign against Germany. Following V-E Day, the squadron returned to the United States and was inactivated at Sioux City Army Air Base, Iowa on 20 August 1945.
The oil campaign chronology of World War II lists bombing missions and related events regarding the petroleum/oil/lubrication (POL) facilities that supplied Nazi Germany or those Germany tried to capture in Operation Edelweiss.
The 505th Bombardment Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Thirteenth Air Force, stationed at Clark Field, Philippines. It was inactivated on 30 June 1946.
The German city of Friedrichshafen was bombed during World War II as part of the Allied strategic bombing campaign against German war materiel industry, particularly in the targeting of German fighter aircraft production and long range missile development.
The 93d Operations Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 93d Air Control Wing, stationed at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. The unit was inactivated on 1 October 2002.
The 97th Operations Group is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the 97th Air Mobility Wing of Air Education and Training Command. It is stationed at Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma.
The 98th Operations Group is a component unit of the Nevada Test and Training Range, assigned to the United States Air Force Air Combat Command. The group is stationed at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. It provides day-to-day control of the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) and directly supports Air Force, joint and multi-national test and training activities; and operates two Air Combat Command bombing ranges; the NTTR and Leach Lake Tactics Range, near Barstow, California.
The 567th Strategic Missile Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 92d Strategic Aerospace Wing at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, where it was inactivated as part of the phaseout of the Atlas ICBM on 25 June 1965. It was equipped with the SM-65E Atlas ICBM, with a mission of nuclear deterrence.
The 565th Strategic Missile Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 389th Strategic Missile Wing at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming, where it was inactivated on 25 March 1965. The squadron was equipped with SM-65D Atlases and was the second Strategic Air Command Intercontinental ballistic missile squadron to go on nuclear alert status.
The 506th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 44th Bombardment Wing at Chennault Air Force Base, Louisiana, where it was inactivated on 15 June 1960.
The 485th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 501st Bombardment Group at Northwest Field, Guam, where it was inactivated on 10 June 1946.
Hans Remmer was a German Luftwaffe military aviator during World War II, a fighter ace credited with 27 aerial victories—that is, 27 aerial combat encounters resulting in the destruction of the enemy aircraft. All of his victories were claimed over the Western Allies and eight four-engined heavy bombers.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) (cited by Stout p. 137) and