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SATURDAY, 24 JULY 1943
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force)
VIII Bomber Command Mission Number 75:
Three targets in Norway are
attacked. This is Eighth's first mission to Norway and its longest
(1,900
miles or 3,040 km round trip) to date.
1. 179 B-17's and 1 YB-40 are dispatched against the nitrate works
at
Heroya, Norway; 167 aircraft hit the target at 1317-1414 hours; they
claim 9-2-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-17 is lost and 53 are damaged;
casualties are 3 WIA and 10 MIA. Work at the plant is disrupted for
3.5
months, and unfinished aluminum and magnesium plants are damaged and
subsequently abandoned by the Germans.
2. 45 B-17's are dispatched against the port area at Trondheim; 41
hit the target; they claim 4-2-3 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-17 is
damaged
beyond repair and 9 are damaged; casualties are 3 WIA.
3. 84 B-17's are dispatched against the port area at Bergen; they
find 10/10 cloud cover and return to base with their bombs.
Crews successfully experiment with a new assembly procedure for
occasions
when bad weather conditions prevent ascent in formation. Aircraft
take
off individually on instruments, proceed to a designated splasher
beacon
for group formation, and then along line of 3 splasher beacons for
force
assembly. The method works well and makes possible many future
missions
which might otherwise have been abandoned.
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