A Brief History
On September 27, 1944, The Kassel Mission, which resulted in the largest loss by a United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) group on any mission in World War II, was so successfully covered up that even today few non-WWII experts are even aware it occurred.
Digging Deeper
The USAAF conducted roughly twenty bombing raids over Kassel, Germany from 1942 through 1945. These raids resulted in severe fires, the deaths of at least 10,000 inhabitants of the city, and the destruction of much of the city center. Eventually, as the war began to conclude, American and British forces took the city following a battle from April 1st through 2nd, 1945. Nazi Germany lost at least fifty killed in the battle and another 5,600 taken as prisoners of war. In the final land battle that took the city, Allied losses were light.
That was not the case on September 27, 1944.
In a battle that lasted perhaps just minutes, America’s 445th Bomb Group suffered the worst losses of any American bomb group in all of World War II. Navigational errors led the doomed bomb group to become separated from the main bomber stream and to lose their fighter escorts. The battle began with America’s 39 planes facing an attack by between 100 and 150 German fighters. The Americans used their famed B-24 Liberator to conduct their bombing raid, whereas the German fighters defending their city consisted of FW-190s and ME-109s. The outnumbered Americans were nearly completely wiped out with 25 bombers crashing into German soil, two planes crash-landing in occupied France, and one crashing near Brussels, Belgium. Two that did cross the English Channel were forced to land at the emergency strip at Manston, while one crashed near the base in Norfolk, and only a mere four American bombers actually landed at their home base in Tibenham. In addition to the loss of planes, 115 out of 238 pilots and crewmen were killed in action or died of injuries sustained in the brief battle. Two more died in crashes in Norfolk and in Belgium, respectively. By contrast and despite numerical superiority, Germany lost a comparable number of aircraft, 29 planes with 18 of their pilots being killed in action. Shooting down so many German fighter planes is a testament to the skill and tenacity of the American gunners manning the defensive machine guns on the heavily armed Liberators.
In the battle’s aftermath, certain members of the Allied command staff covered up the disaster so as to prevent any possible decrease in the morale of Allied air crews. Yet, even now, over fifty years later few outside of scholars and veterans remember the disaster (I have personally asked some well-read former members of the U.S. Air Force who were unfamiliar with the incident). And so the largest loss by a USAAF Group in World War II was largely swept under the rug…
Regardless of concerns about morale, America could sustain its losses at this point in the war much more than Germany could and despite the tragedy for America, Germany would still ultimately lose the world’s worst war. Indeed, as indicated above, the overall devastation to Kassel over the course of the war is almost difficult to comprehend.
Question for students (and subscribers): Is it ever for okay for military leaders and/or the government to cover up a military disaster? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For a thorough website dedicated to the mission, please visit http://kasselmission.com/overview.html. For a discussion on the cover up, please see the chapter titled “The Eighth United States Air Force Cover-Up–Why?” in Tom Harrison Kassel (Xlibris Corporation, 2013), 157-158.
For more information, please see…
Elson, Aaron. John Cadden: A Kassel Mission Interview. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013.
The featured image in this article, a photograph of a 93d Bomb Group B-24D-1-CO Liberator, AAF Serial No. 41-23711, at RAF Alconbury, England, in 1942, is a work of a U.S. Air Force Airman or employee, taken or made as part of that person’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image or file is in the public domain in the United States.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="139 http://www.crackedhistory.com/?p=139">72 Comments
The emergency strip was probably RAF Manston not Mansion.
I agree with David.
Leave it to the governments to cover up information be it good or bad.
The number of casualties lost in this fighting is very sad! And like Vickie said,leave it to the government to hide information and the complete story.
so sad how many people were killed!
They were way out numbered. No wonder the government didn’t want people to know about this.
I agree that it is sad how many lives were lost. It is interesting that this incident was kept secret at least in part to keep American morale from dropping.
Very sad to hear about all of those deaths
I don’r believe the incident should have been kept a secret.
It’s interesting that this battle and all of the deaths were kept a secret just to keep up American morale. Whether that was the better decision, I don’t know.
I always wondered why we never seemed to discuss in classes American losses during wartime. Morale is very important to war effort, but to never tell reveal what went on seems a bit too much. The people have the right to know what goes on and especially the families of those who died in the attack.
I am curious as to how they covered up the disaster, if anyone even knows the answer. It seems it would be difficult as there would be plenty of wreckage. Would they just pass it off as belonging to another conflict?
Dear Emmaline,
It was covered up by not reporting the losses to the press corps or even in the military news papers. Officers were instructed not to talk about the losses. The wreckage of course was over enemy held territory. Back then there were no cell phone cameras, no internet, and the media was respectful of government wishes to portray aspects of the war as the government wanted. Obviously, the enemy knew of the disaster, just not our people.
Sincerely,
Dr. Zar
It is sad that there were a lot of lives lost, however, I don’t think they should have kept it a secret.
It’s horrible that so many people were killed. It shouldn’t have been kept a secret.
It crazy that over fifty years later the largest loss by a USAAF Group in World War II was swept under the rug
I was unaware of this, it’s crazy to think of all the POWs taken.
Such a great tragedy should not have been covered up. Its sad for all of those who lost their lives.
I can’t believe how many people were killed during this tragic event.
I was unaware of not only the death toll but also the number of POW’s taken at this time.
so terrible. the fact that this isnt known about is terrible too
It’s amazing that even 50+ years later, this is still unheard of and rarely anyone knows about this death toll.
I can understand why at the time this was kept quiet, but after the war it should have been made known what a devastating loss were suffered.
Not only was I unaware of this and the death toll which is probably because it was covered up. I do not understand however why it was covered up?
I knew there were a lot of deaths, I was unaware that there were so many deaths that I had no knowledge of.
I have never heard of The Kassel Mission. It is not often that we are taught of the great loses that America has taken. We are usually only taught what America has achieved to make us believe that we have the most powerful military in the world.
I hate the fact that a lot of the deaths were hidden. I believe that the families back home at least had a right to know if some of their family members had died. It seems disrespectful to me.
I cannot believe that one of the greatest losses for the Allies was able to be basically “swept under the rug” to avoid loss of morale. I feel like there would be an outrage if something like this was discovered today.
The twenty bombing raids from 1942 to 1945 were very devastating. This specific article and these articles as a whole has really helped me realize the many devastations of world war two.
It still amazes me that these types of altercations can take place without anyone knowing.
I cannot believe something like this took place without anyone knowing and how it is now being told. I wonder if we will hear things from today in our future like this.
Makes me wonder if some of the soldiers were aware though. I am sure someone who survived would talk about it within the military.
I can’t believe over 100 deaths of Americans were swept under the rug. Those men should be honored. It makes me wonder how many Americans that were killed during the war were left unrecognized or even unaware of.
I am not shocked that the allies tried to cover this up. its all about morale when supporting a war. no one wants to fight for a loosing team
It is painful to see that a majority of these deaths were hidden and not recognized the way that they should be. I would be disappointed if I lost a family member and he was not recognized because the morale of the country wanted to be saved.
I do not agree with sweeping the loss under the rug to retain the morale and support of the citizens. How do you overcome the betrayal and trust in your government?
So surprise that over hundred Americans were dead and under the rug.
It is difficult to read the numbers in the article– “115 out of 238 pilots and crewmen were killed in action or died of injuries sustained in the brief battle.” War is a evil action. Those people should be remembered in our mind rather than covering the truth.
It is horrible that so many deaths that occurred were covered up in a sense. These individuals should have been honored better for their service. I do agree with Dakota when he says that no one really wants to fight for a losing team.
I cannot believe, along with everyone else, that all of these deaths were hidden and swept under the rug.
I can’t believe they hid so many people dying!
I can’t believe that they hid so many people’s death for so long. I think that it was extremely unethical for these deaths to be swept under the rug
It is completely understandable to cover up this incident to keep the morale of the war going, but is there any reason for this to stay covered up now that the war is over?
I was unaware about everything about this fight! I wonder how they hid these deaths from so many people!
I cant believe that they were actually able to cover something this big up.
I can’t believe that this fight hid so many deaths that had happened.
I believe there are still things that have happened during WWII we do not know about.
That is terrible that they would cover up something like this. It makes me sad to think about what else is covered up. These people dedicated their lives for this and they were basically pushed under the rug.
It is important to sometimes cover things up so the American population will not question the government. If you have an uneasy nation not supporting their fellow Americans at war, the war would have been a different out come.
There are most likely still events in not only WWII, but every other war that we will not know about. Something is always covered up and if you were not present during the time, there will be details left out.
@huntermusic:disqus I think you made an excellent point about ensuring that your country is supportive of the moves being made, and it may sometimes be necessary to fudge the truth a little.
Losses on these raids could be high. We forget the carnage in the light of victory. My father was with the 44th Bomb Group out of Norwich and on a raid to Kjeller, Norway, on November 18, 1943, he wrote in his memoir: sixty-two Second Air Division men were killed and six B24 Liberators were lost. The bodies of the sixty-two Americans, including those of Lt. Houle’s crew, were never found after their planes crashed into the sea off Norway. Nothing of them or their bombers was ever recovered.
The covering up of such an incident was vital to the war effort, and given the fact that the allies could sustain such a loss where Germany could not at that point made it an acceptable loss.
It is not the slightest bit unusual for the military to cover things up. No surprise here.
Covering up this information is exactly what the government thinks is better for the country. Imagine the things that happened that we still don’t know.
We lost a lot of men and planes in this battle and I was amazed they try to cover it up. I guess the government probably covers up a lot of things that e don’t know about.
Good call to hide the story. Psychological impacts of war greatly impact the actions of the fighter. There’s probably more stories out there that we do not know about.
I think that the government actually covers up a lot of things when it comes to the wars that we are involved in. If something happens that would take away the support of the people of the country for fighting in that war, they won’t get the funds or support that they are looking for.
It is sad that they covered this up when so many lives were lost. I understand that they were trying to keep morale up, but people should know the truth.
There are so many things that are covered up by the government that will never come to light. I am honestly not surprised but it is sad that they felt the need to cover this up.
There is a saying that I have heard often “History repeats itself”. There are so many things that has happened in history that we have come to find out today that has been covered up, lied about or just kept a secret. When you look at history how are we to trust what any of our leaders are telling us when there is so much that has been kept from us in the past.
Such a shame. It always me wonder if these are the devastating events that actually make it to the light of day, what other atrocities are kept hidden from the general public?
These are the stories that did not get talked about in history class. Instances like this are why there are so many conspiracy theorists out there doubting the government. What else has been covered up?
I know it may seem callas to cover up something like this, but it is war. A soldiers mindset is a huge part of how they will function. They needed to believe that they were indestructible.
I was not aware that the Kassel Mission in 1944 was the largest loss by the USAAF. I’m surprised the mission does not receive more notoriety in the history books. I would agree with the author that the devastation to Kassel over the course of the war is difficult to comprehend.
To not talk about this parts of history more today is just crazy as I never knew any thing about Kassel Mission in 1944. It’s like they cover up these parts of history instead of teaching them in history classes.
Whatever happened to the old saying “we may have lost the battle but we won the war”. We should not cover this up in history. Part of history is learning from mistakes and losses so they are not repeated.
I am sure my comment will be like many others that covering this up does not honor those who gave their life for our country.
it was a sadness news, but the loss some thing was true in the war, and the end result was the most important ponit
USAAF as a strong air force was bombing at Kassel made many loss of people and properties.
I don’t understand how Germany could lose since they had so many more planes than the US. Either way, many people were killed and I don’t consider anyone a winner.
The US produced many more aircraft than Germany. Also, Germany had to fight bajillions of Soviet aircraft and a considerable amount from Britain, not just the US.