92nd
BOMBARDMENT GROUP
Higher*Stronger*Faster
This is the
92nd Bombardment Group (Heavy) Historical Campaign. A list of YB-40 Missions
from May 29, 1943 until July 29 1943 is detailed below. Each date includes the
target, number of B-17’s and YB-40’s dispatched, and losses suffered. Following
the missions lists is the Campaign Game Missions. It details number of aircraft
Bomber Command has requested you provide and their assignment within the group
formation.
YB-40 MISSIONS
May 08 1943
First YB-40’s arrive in England and are assigned to
327th Sqn / 92ndBG(H)
May 29 1943
1st Heavy Bombardment Wing 147 B-17s attack St Nazaire
with 277-2000 pound bombs [8 YB-40’s dispatched one lost] B-17’s 7 shotdown, 1 ditched, 1 write off;
58 damaged.
June 15, 1943
VIII Bomber Command 155 B-17’s recalled before reaching
France.
( Target Lemans 4 YB-40’s dispatched)
June 22, 1943
1st and 4th Heavy Bombardment Wings 183 out 224
B-17’s attack a synthetic rubber plant
at Huls with 422 tons of bombs [11 YB-40’s dispatched 1 lost] 15 B-17’s lost,
75 damaged. Wango Wango First
Lieutenant Andrew F Bilek a/c B-17 25735 UXB hit by AA shortly after the
target, last seen going down under control near Dutch Border crew all killed.
First YB-40 lost in action.
June 25, 1943
1st Heavy Bombardment Wing 149 out of 190 B-17’s, due
to extremely poor visibility over northweatern Europe, attack targets of
opportunity and targets of last resort , including a convoy at sea [7 YB-40’s
dispatched] 15 B-17’s lost and 39 damaged. ( Target Hamburg, Two YB-40’s
aborted, Two enemy aircraft claimed)
June 26, 1943
1st Heavy Bombardment Wing 123 B-17’s assigned to
attack Villacoublay Airdrone; only 17 attack aircraft-industry plant at
Villacoublay or Poissy Aerodrone, secondary targets. [5 YB-40’s dispatched]
(Two enemy aircraft claimed)
June 28, 1943
1st and 4th Heavy Bombardment Wing 158 out of 185
B-17’s attack St Nazaire with 300 tons of bombs [6 YB-40’s dispatched] 8 B-17’s
lost and 57 damaged. (One enemy aircraft claimed)
June 29, 1943
1st Heavy Bombardment Wing 146 B-17’s sent to attack
Villacoublay and Tricqueville Airdrones bring their bombs home after finding
both targets covered by solid cloud cover [2 YB 40’s dispatched] 14 B-17’s
damaged. (1 YB-40 aborted)
July 4, 1943
1st Heavy Bombardment Wing 166 B-17’s attack aircraft
industry targets in Le Mans and Nantes with more than 404 tons of bombs. 7
B-17’s lost, 54 damaged, and one write off. (YB-40’s dispatched Nantes 2 and Le
Mans 1)
July 10 1943
1st Heavy Bombardment Wing 34 of 116 B-17’s attack Caen
Airdrome with 74 tons of bombs[5 YB-40’s dispatched] 1 B-17’s lost, 33 damaged.
July 14, 1943
1st Heavy Bombardment Wing 101 of 111 B-17’s attack Villacoublay Airdrome with 232 tons of
bombs [5 YB-40’s dispatched] 2 B-17’s
lost, 68 damaged, one damaged plane ditches in the channel. (The last mission
as a group)
July 17, 1943
VIII Bomber Command 205 B-17’s recalled from a raid on
Hannover due to weather; 33 attacks
targets of opportunity [2 YB-40’s dispatched] 52 damaged, one write off after a
forced landing and one ditched in the Channel.
July 24, 1943 BLITZ WEEK
1st Heavy Bombardment Wing 167 B-17’s plus 4th Heavy
Bombardment Wing 41 B-17’s {long range with Tokyo Tanks} attack a
nitrate plant near Heroya and the naval base at Trondheim, Norway with 495tons
of bombs; 84 additional long range B-17’s from 4th Heavy Bombardment Group
abort an attack on Bergen , Norway due to cloud cover [1 YB-40 dispatched] 64 B-17’s damages including one write off, and another crashs
lands in Sweden where the crew is interned.
Longest mission to date 1900 mile round trip
July 26, 1943
1st Heavy Bombardment Wing 50 B-17’s and attack
Hannover with 134 tons of bombs [2 YB-40’s dispatched] 14 B-17’s lost, 1
written off on return to base, and two ditched in the Channel.
A YB-40 pilot from the 92nd BG(H) becomes crazed from a head wound received during a fighter attack over the target. Flying Officer John C. Morgan, the co-pilot, flies the plane, in formation, with one hand, while restraining the struggling pilot for two hours, until another crewman can relieve the situation. Morgan is awarded the Medal of Honor. AIR WAR EUROPA Chronology1942-45 Eric Hammel Page 158.
It is commonly believed that this is account inspired
Lieutenant Jessie Bishops’s Medal Of Honor action in the movie “Twelve o’Clock
High!”
July 28, 1943
1st Heavy Bombardment Wing 182 B-17’s assigned to
attack Kassel, 58 attack the Fiesler aircraft factory. (2 YB-40’s dispatched)
First use of jettisionable belly tanks (unpressurized
fiberglass models normally used for ferry flights). This allows P-47’s of 4th
Fighter Group to penetrate German Airspace.
First use of of German 21cm rockets by twin engine
fighters, highly inaccurate but capable of destroying a B-17 with a single hit.
July 29, 1943
1st Heavy Bombardment Wing 91 B-17’s out of 167 attack
Kiel with 315 tond of bombs and 767,000 leaflets [2 YB-40’s dispatched] 6
B-17’s lost and 63 damaged of which one is written off.
Total sorties 60, losses 2, aborts 3
HISTORICAL CAMPAIGN
The YB-40’s
arived in England in April 1943 for combat evaluation. there were bugs and
shoddy workmanship.
The 327th
Squadron starts with 12 YB-40 Bomber Escorts and crews. Every turn one third of
your aircraft that flew have acquired enough hours of flight time to require
overhaul. These aircraft are not available for operations. On Turn 0 assume all
your aircraft have flown, representing the ferry flight from the states and
familiarization training. Thus Turn One / Mission One starts with eight
aircraft available and four being overhauled.
Each turn
take the number of aircraft that flew divide by three and round up, these
planes are unavailable due to overhaul. Choose these aircraft randomly. Four
battle damaged aircraft can be fully repaired each turn. A plane that is both
battle damaged and requires overhaul will count double against maintenance
Example: Turn
One 4 planes are being overhauled and 8 go on the mission. During the mission 6
planes suffer battle damage. For the eight that flew:
Overhaul: 8 divide by 3 rounds up to 3, so we have
three unavailable.
Battle Damage: 6 planes hit, we can automatically
repair 4 and two remain in the hanger waiting to be fixxed, two unavailable
Turn Two We have the 7 aircraft available
Crew
casualties: for each light would a crewman is unavailble for 1D6/3 missions,
for each serious wound he is unavailable for 1D6 missions.
The Group
Headquarters has seven aircraft and crews available as replacements for lost
aircraft and casualties. That’s 7
YB-40’s available to replace destroyed aircraft, 14 pilots/co-pilots, 7 navigators, 7 engineers who can also serve
as turret gunners, 7 radio operators who can also serve as turret gunners, 14
turret gunners, 14 waist gunners, and 7 tail gunners. A gunner may serve in
different area, but will only hit on a 6 for D6/3 missions round up.
After
assigning aircraft to a mission roll 2D6 for each B-17 assigned on a 2 or 12
that aircraft aborts and counts as extra plane requiring overhaul.
Mission One St Nazaire {8}
High Squadron Lead and Tail
Middle Squadron Lead and Tail
Low Squadron Lead, Number 2, Tail, and Number 5
Mission Two Lemans {4}
High Squadron Lead
Middle Squadron Lead
Low Squadron Lead and Tail
Mission 3 Huls {11}
High Squadron Lead, Number 2, and Tail
Middle Squadron Lead and Tail
Low Squadron All Six Aircraft
Mission 4 Hamburg {7}
High Squadron Lead and Tail
Middle Squadron Lead and Tail
Low Squadron Lead, Number 2, and Tail
Mission Five Villacoublay {5}
High Squadron Lead and Tail
Middle Squadron Lead
Low Squadron Tail
Mission 6 St Nazaire {6}
High Squadron Lead and Tail
Middle Squadron Lead and Tail
Low Squadron Lead and Tail
Mission 7 Villacoublay {2}
High Squadron Lead
Low Squadron Lead
Mission 8 Nantes {2}
High Squadron Lead
Low Squadron Lead
Missions 8 and 9 flown on same day
Mission 9 Le Mans {1}
Low Squadron Lead 1
Mission 10 Caen {5}
High Squadron Lead and Tail
Middle Squadron Lead
Low Squadron Lead
Mission 11 Villacoublay {5}
High Squadron Lead and Tail
Middle Squadron Lead
Low Squadron Lead and Tail
Starting with Mission Ten you are attached to another
Bomb Group
Mission 12 Hannover {2}
High Squadron Lead
Low Squadron Low
Mission 13 Trondheim, Norway {1}
Low Squadron Lead
This mission will require a bomb bay fuel tank so the
ammo reserve normally stored here is not available
Mission 14 Hannover {2}
High Squadron Lead
Low Squadron Lead
Mission 15 Kassel {2}
High Squadron Lead
Low Squadron Lead
Mission 16 Kiel {2}
High Squadron Lead
Low Squadron Low
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“WHAT IF”
The Schweinfurt Raid took place just 18 days after the
YB-40 was withdrawn from service on July 29th. On that fateful day of August
17th the 92nd Bomb group was there but without their YB-40’s. Suppose they were
put to the ultimate test of their capabilities???
Mission 17 Schweinfurt {12}
High Squadron Lead, Number 2 and Tail
Middle Squadron Lead, Number 2, and Tail
Low Squadron All Aircraft
This is a Maximum Effort, assume all aircraft down for
overhaul are available, and any with battle damage have been repaired.
Campaign Victory Points
Plus one point per required aircraft assigned to a
mission
Plus one half point per extra aircraft assigned to a
mission to cover aborts
Plus two points per extra aircraft asigned to a mission
Minus one point per unavailable aircraft required for a
mission
Minus one point per aircraft aborting a mission
