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SUNDAY, 3 JANUARY 1943
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force)
Sixteen Spitfire Vs of the 4th Fighter Group fly ship protection
patrols.
VIII Bomber Command Mission 28: The primary target is the St Nazaire
U-Boat base in France; this is the first attack on this installation
since
23 Nov 42 and the heaviest attack to date against U-Boat bases. The
1st
Bombardment Wing dispatches 85 B-17s of the 91st, 303, 305th and
306th
Bombardment Groups (Heavy); the 4th Bombardment Wing dispatches 13
B-24s of
the 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy); 60 B-17s and eight B-24s hit the
target
dropping 171 tons of bombs between 1130 and 1140 hours local.
Formation
(instead of individual) precision bombing is used for the first time
by the
VIII Bomber Command, and considerable damage is done to the dock
area. The
mission stats are:
We claim 14 enemy aircraft shot down, 18 probably shot down and 4
damaged;
we loose seven B-17s, three B-24s are damaged beyond repair, 44
B-17s and
three B-24s are damaged. Human casualties are 5 KIA, 29 WIA and 70
MIA.
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