Emily(Operation)

= **Operation Carpetbagger** =

Operation Carpetbagger, which began in January, 1944, was an mission during World War II designed to give troops the supplies they needed.

The OSS (Office of Strategic Services) was asked to drop supplies over Europe to resistance groups in enemy occupied countries. The supplies they typically delivered were radios, radio batteries, weapons, ammunition, food, clothing, first aid supplies, and other necessities they needed. The group that was formed to complete this mission was named the 801st bombardment group; later, they were renamed the 492nd bombardment group. They were based out of Harrington Field, England.

Process
Each day at 5 pm, the group gets a list of the places they must go that night; they then have to review it. At 9 am, the list is finalized.Two hours later, the targets are assigned to the squadrons. The navigators of the crew are told of the nights assignments at noon. At 3 o’clock, the takeoff time is posted and the S-2 officers and crew officer members have meetings to finalize things. The final briefing is held at 4:30. They prepare for takeoff and load the air craft about two hours before the actual takeoff. They then takeoff. The mission typically lasts five to eight hours. Directly after the arrive back, the crews are interrogated. After that, they go to the mess hall where they eat breakfast and drink two ounces of whiskey. Click [|here] for more pictures of Operation Carpetbagger.

The first mission of Operation Carpetbagger was from Harrington Field to France on the night of January 4, 1944. Because it was so dark out that night, they had B-24s, an air ground device, parachute to the ground. This device, which they named "Rebecca", was used to direct them to the ground operator. They then used a sending device, called "Eureka", which contacted them with people on the ground with a special kind of two-way radio once they were in range. This made sure there weren't any Germans around.

The busiest month they had was July, 1944. During that month, they dropped a total of 4,680 containers, 2,909 packages, 62 Joes, and 1,378 leaflets. The leaflets were sent down to disguise what they were really dropping.

 As the months went on, the number of missions grew smaller. On the night of September 16, 1944, Operation Carpetbagger mission ended. They still delivered a few items though, like arms, ammunition, and gasoline. Soon, they went back into the full nighttime deliveries. During these missions, they traveled more into the Nazi zone. This time around, they used A-26s, which were much faster.

From January, 1944, to May, 1945, they delivered 20,495 containers and 11,174 packages of vital supplies. They also dropped over 1,000 plus parachutes into enemy territory.