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WEDNESDAY, 19 AUGUST 1942
ETO (8th AF): Mission 2: 22 of 24 B-17s bomb Abbeville/Drucat
Airfield,
France at 1032-1040 hours; 3 B-17s are damaged; 6 B-17s fly a
diversion and 2
airmen are WIA. This mission is flown to occupy the Luftwaffe and
prevent
them from opposing an invasion by over 5,000 Allied troops, mostly
Canadians,
who raid Dieppe, France. 123 Spitfire Mk Vs of the 31st Fighter
Group support
the raid on Dieppe and claim 1-1-5 Luftwaffe aircraft with the loss
of 8
Spitfires (4 pilots are MIA); 2d Lieutenant Samuel F Junkin Jr of
the 309th
Fighter Squadron, 31st Fighter Group, flying a Spitfire Mk V in
support of
the amphibious raid on Dieppe, shoots down a German fighter, this
being the
first aerial victory won by an 8th Air Force fighter pilot flying
from the UK.
Units arriving in England from the US: HQ 1st Bombardment Wing at
Brampton
Grange; 353d and 419th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy), 301st
Bombardment Group
(Heavy), at Chelveston with B-17s (first mission is 2 Oct).
2d, 4th and 5th Fighter Squadron, 52d Fighter Group arrive at
Eglinton, Co
Derry, Ireland from the US (squadrons will be equipped with Spitfire
Mk Vs
and 2d and 4th Fighter Squadrons will fly their first mission on 27
Aug; 5th
Fighter Squadron will not fly missions).
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