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SATURDAY, 1 APRIL 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 287: 440 bombers
and 475
fighters are dispatched to bomb the chemical industry at
Ludwigshafen,
Germany (the largest in Europe).
1. The 245 B-17s dispatched of the lead force abandon the mission
over the
French coast due to heavy clouds; 7 B-17s are damaged.
2. The 195 B-24s in the second force became widely dispersed and
bomb
targets of opportunity; 101 hit Pforzheim; 38 hit Schaffhausen,
Switzerland;
17 hit Strasbourg, France; and 9 hit Grafenhausen; Schaffhausen and
Strasbourg were mistaken as German towns; they claim 1-1-0 Luftwaffe
aircraft;
12 B-24s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 42 damaged;
casualties are 9
KIA, 12 WIA and 113 MIA.
Escort is provided by 280 P-47s and 195 Eighth and Ninth Air Force
P-51s:
P-47s claim 13-1-19 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground 2 P-47s are
lost and 12
damaged, 2 pilots are MIA; P-51s claim 5-2-4 aircraft, 2 P-51s are
lost and 2
damaged, 2 pilots are MIA.
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