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WEDNESDAY, 3 NOVEMBER 1943
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): VIII Bomber Command
Mission 119.
539 of 566 B-17's and B-24's dispatched to the Wilhemshaven, Germany
port area
hit the target at 1307-1335 hours. They claim 21-3-24 Luftwaffe
aircraft; 7
B-17's are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair, and 47 damaged; casualties
are 12
WIA and 70 MIA. The mission includes 11 Pathfinders, 9 using new H2X
blind-bombing device (first time on a US mission) and 2 using H2S.
This is the
first Eighth Air Force blind-bombing mission in which the aiming
point is
completely destroyed and is also the Eighth's first 500-plane
mission. 333
P-47's and 45 P-38's escort the bombers with the P-38's escorting
the heavy
bombers almost the entire trip and see their first real ETO combat,
claiming
3-5-5 Luftwaffe aircraft.
VIII Bomber Command Mission 120. During
the night of 3/4 Nov, 2 B-17's drop
1.5+ million leaflets on Antwerp at 1915 hours and Rotterdam at 2008
hours.
The 612th and 613th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy), 401st Bombardment
Group
(Heavy), arrive at Deenethorpe, England from the U.S. with B-17's.
They will
fly their first mission on 26 Nov.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): 71 B-26's bomb the airfield
at
Saint-Andre-de-L'Eure, France; 71 attack Triqueville Airfield,
France; and 65
bomb Schiphol Airfield in the Netherlands.
HQ 435th Troop Carrier Group and it's 76th and 77th Troop Carrier
Squadrons
arrive at Langer, England from the U.S. with C-47's and C-53's.
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