This is the After Action Report as it happened 60 years ago today, as taken from "Beware the Thunderbolt, The 56th Fighter Group in World War II" by David R. McLaren.
56th Fighter Group
January 7, 1945
VIII Fighter Command Flight Operation 1499-A
Any and everything in western Germany was targeted by the eight hundred "heavies" dispatched during the course of the day's missions. Covered by 700 Mustangs, the Luftwaffe wasn't to be found, and only three heavies and one fighter were lost.
Lt. Col. Dade led the Wolfpack on a patrol under the control of Nuthouse at 0930. The forty Thunderbolts swept in over Aachen and were vectored to Cologne, where there was little to do but stooge around until fuel constraints dictated it was time to return to Boxted. The Group's 400th mission was uneventful and they RTB'd at 1358.
The next mission isn't recorded until the 10th of January.
