FIRST RAID TO BLECHHAMMER

Escaping and Evading in Southwest Slovakia

- PETER KASSÁ K

The 15th U.S. Army Air Force was created on October 30, 1943, to support the Allied Air Forces in their efforts to destroy Axis industries and communications and to break the morale of the German people. Located in Italy, it could easily reach targets in Southern France, the Balkans and Central Europe. Its most known and fearsome targets became the Romanian oil fields at Ploesti and oil refineries and industrial parks around Vienna in Austria. The refineries in Upper Silesia in Northern Europe (now Poland) became the third most visited target and spread fear among the aircrews because of its strong antiaircraft artillery.

The first Fifteenth AF raid on those refineries was flown on Friday, July 7,1944. A stream of 189 5th Bomb Wing (BW) B-17s attacked the refinery IG Farbenindustrie—in American papers known as “Blechhammer-South” (today, Kiedzierzyn, Poland). Another 226 49th and 55th BW B-24s attacked the oil refinery known as “Blechhammer-North” (Blachownia Slaska, Poland), and were supported by 140 304th BW B-24s that dropped their bombs on a refinery in what is today Zdzieszowice, Poland. Fighter cover was provided by 352 Fifteenth AF fighter planes of various types.

The 464th and 465th BGs were stationed at Stornara Airfield and belonged to the 55th BW. On this date, the entire 55th BW, accompanied by Liberators of 49th BW (altogether, seven or eight groups) attacked the oil refinery at Blechhammer-North. For the 464th BG, this was its forty-ninth mission.