Adjacent to the Löwensaal building at the back of a small parking lot.

An information board that describes the Kassel Bombing Mission Air Battle over the Werra Valley on Spetember 27, 1944.  The information board serves as a center point numerous nearby memorials remembering both the American and German crash locations and their crews.

It is divided into three sections: the first tells the story of the battle; the second covers the personal fates involved;  and, the third describes the Kassel Mission Historical Society and the freindship between the former enemies.

The Kassel Mission: On 27 September 1944, 35 B-24 bombers with 338 aircrew members took off from RAF Tibenham in Norfolk, within an 8th Air Force mission including a total of 283 B-24s of the 2nd Combat Bombardment Wing and, as escorts, 198 P-51 Mustang fighters. Their specific target that day was infrastructure associated with Henschel & Sohn production facilitiesm which built Tiger and Panther tanks near Kassel, Germany.

In clouds, the navigator of the lead bomber of the 445th Bombardment Group miscalculated, and the 35 planes of the Group left the bomber stream of the 2d Air Division and proceeded to Göttingen, about 56 kilometers from their primary target. After the bomb run, the Group was alone in the skies and was attacked from the rear by an estimated 150 Luftwaffe aircraft, resulting in one of the most concentrated air battles in history. The U.S. 361st Fighter Group arrived late to prevent complete destruction of the group. 29 German and 25 American planes went down in a 24-kilometer radius within 5 minutes.

During the mission, 118 U.S. airmen lost their lives, including 11 who were killed on the ground after parachuting safely -- and a further 121 men were taken prisoner. Only four of the 445th Groups planes made it back to the base, while two crashed in France, one in Belgium, and another at RAF Old Buckenham. Two made forced landings at RAF Manston. Only one of the 35 attacking aircraft was fit to fly the next day.  This mission is considered the greatest single-day loss suffered by any US Army Air Forces (USAAF) Group during the war.

Other American memorials located in the Werra Valley on this website include:

Site: Krauthausen -Pond, B-24 (42-51355) Kassel Mission Crash Marker -445th Bomber Group Memorial

Site: Lauchroden - Southwest, B-24 (44-10490) 'Jane' Kassel Mission (Air Battle over the Werra Valley) Crash Marker

Site: Lauchroden -South, B-24 (42-110073) Kassel Mission (Air Battle over the Werra Valley) Crash Marker

Site:  Lauschroden- Southeast, B-24 (44-10497) Kassel Mission (Air Battle over the Werra Valley) Crash Marker

Site: Gerstunden -North has two markers: B-24 (42-100308) 'Our Gal' Kassel Mission (Air Battle over the Werra Valley) Crash Marker & B-24 (44-10511) Kassel Mission (Air Battle over the Werra Valley) Crash Marker

Several other markers located nearby remember several German Fighter crash locations

The Werratal Museum- Gerstungen has a dispaly remembering the events regarding the Air Battle over the Werra Valley; See Site Gerstungen-Center,  Werratal Museum- Gerstungen (Kassel Mission Display)

To see the memorial remembing the entire mission, see the three memorials at Site: Ludwigsau Kassel Mission Airmen's Memorial

Special thanks to Kassel Mission Historical Society and to the Werratal Museum- Gerstungen for their efforts in placing these memorials remembering the German and American crewmen involved in the Werra Valley Kassel Mission.

For more on this event and the Kassel Mission Historical Society see their website: https://www.kasselmission.org

Sources on information and photos: Kassel Mission Historical Socity and the Werratal Museum Gerstungen: https://www.gerstungen.de/de/kultur-freizeit-gerstungen.html

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