Sortie Report (Form 541)
- Date
- - 12th MARCH 1945
APPENDIX I111C O N F I D E N T I A L .FROM :- S.I.O. NO 21 SQUADRON S.A.A.F.TO :- H.Q. M.A.A.F. ( ATTENTION OPERATIONS RECORDS.)H.Q. M.A.T.A.F.( S.C.O.R.U.)S.A.O.A. ADV. S.A.A.F. H.Q. C.M.F.S.I.O. 3 S.A. WING S.A.A.F.REF :- 21S/960.DATE :- 12th MARCH 1945.OPREP NO 960 FOR THE PERIOD ENDING 2100 HOURS ON THE 11TH MARCH '45.RAID ON CASARSA M/Y pp C 103877 REF. MAP ITALY 1,100,000 SHEET NO 39OPERATION NUMBER 165/21S/M.A : 10 Marauders airborne JESI L/G between 1330 and 1610 hoursto bomb CASARSA M/Y. After R/V with 8 Thunderbolts at FANOat 1405 hours formation set course for target and bombedfrom 11 - 12000' at 1505 hours. First box had left lateralerror of about 100 yards no bombs falling on the target.Bombs from second box undershot, the stick ending justshort of the target. Stick from the third box startedshort and finished in the yards. Two A/C had hang-upsof 1x250 lb which were jettisoned at sea. Flak :- Therewere four to six bursts of inaccurate H/A/A observed overthe target. Weather was fair over target with no cloudbelow, and visibility was fair to poor in haze.B : (1) 10 MARAUDERS (ii) Nil.C : (i) Nil. (ii) Nil.D : (1) 25.50 Hours. (ii) Nil.E : (1) 34,000 x .5 (ii) Nil. (iii) Nil.F : (1) 60 x 500 lb G.P. (ii) 60 x 500 (iii) 2 x 25040 x 250 lb 38 x 250 (iv) Nil.324 lb's Window.13 Pkts. Pamphlets.Fused Tail Only 30 - 51.V : NIL.Z : NIL.[Signed] S.F. Wiggill------------------- LT. Capt.S.I.O. 21 SQUADRON S.A.A.F.Handwritten Marginalia / Stamps:
Folio Number: 111 (Handwritten, Top Right).
Reference Stamp:The National Archives' reference AIR 27/271/3
Transcriber's Notes
- S.I.O
- Squadron Intelligence Officer. Lieutenant Captain S.F. Wiggill was tasked with mission debriefing and OPREP compilation.
- S.C.O.R.U
- Section for Operational Research and Underlining (or Unit), responsible for analyzing strike accuracy.
- C.M.F
- Central Mediterranean Force.
- JESI L/G
- Jesi Landing Ground, Italy; the operational base for 21 Squadron in March 1945.
- R/V
- Rendezvous; the tactical coordination point at Fano for formation assembly with the 8 Thunderbolt escorts.
- Thunderbolts
- Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter-bombers provided for top-cover and escort.
- Window
- Chaff; strips of aluminum foil (324 lbs dispensed) used to saturate German radar-directed defenses. Operational Context Target File 271-3_20 chronicles Operation Number 165/21S/M, a 10-aircraft strike launched on March 11, 1945, against the Casarsa Marshalling Yards. By March 1945, the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces (MAAF) were executing Operation Bingo, a comprehensive interdiction campaign intended to isolate German Heeresgruppe C by systematically severing the logistical network in Northern Italy. The Casarsa yard was a vital rail junction on the route to the Austrian border, serving as a critical artery for Axis materiel. This methodology represents the strategic maturation of principles established during the 1943 battles for the Bernhardt and Gustav Lines. In November 1943, 21 Squadron SAAF executed high-intensity strikes on localized bottlenecks, such as location H055630, to paralyze German reserves attempting to reach the front. By March 1945, the emphasis had shifted to theater-wide strategic isolation. The report highlights the tactical difficulties encountered over Casarsa: while the third box successfully hit the yards, the first and second boxes suffered from lateral and range errors, illustrating the challenges of precision visual bombing in hazy conditions. Despite inaccurate heavy flak, the formation successfully integrated kinetic destruction with the non-kinetic distribution of 13 packets of propaganda pamphlets and significant Window deployment to maintain pressure on the crumbling Axis logistical depth. 21
MC/GP (Medium Capacity / General Purpose): Standard high-explosive ordnance, typically 500 lb and 250 lb variants, carried by SAAF crews to destroy physical infrastructure and rolling stock.