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THURSDAY, 4 MARCH 1943
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force)
VIII Bomber Command Mission 39: 71 B-17s of the 1st Bombardment Wing
are
dispatched against the marshalling yard at Hamm, Germany; 16 drop 40
tons of
bombs on the target at 1043 hours; we claim 13 enemy aircraft
destroyed, 3
probably destroyed and 4 damaged. We lose 4 B-17s and 9 others are
damaged; casualties are 1 KIA, 7 WIA and 33 MIA. Another 28 B-17s
hit the
shipyards at Rotterdam, The Netherlands dropping 70 tons between
1020 and
1021 hours. We claim 3 enemy aircraft destroyed; we lose 1 B-17
while 15
others are damaged; casualties are 9 MIA. This is the first Eighth
Air
Force attack on a Ruhr industrial target. To divert the enemy, 14
B-24s of
the 2d Bombardment Wing fly a diversion without a loss.
The Spitfire Mk Vs of the 4th Fighter Group fly 26 uneventful
sorties, 24
on fighter patrols and 2 on offensive patrols over the
Ostend/Dunkirk,
France area.
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