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WEDNESDAY, 26 APRIL 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 319 Part 1: 589
bombers
and 554 fighters are dispatched to targets in Germany; no claims of
enemy
aircraft are made; 5 fighters are lost:
1. Of 357 B-17s dispatched, 292 hit the industrial area at
Brunswick, 47
hit the Hildesheim/Hannover area and 5 hit targets of opportunity; 2
B-17s
are damaged beyond repair and 121 damaged; casualties are 9 KIA and
3 WIA.
2. The 238 B-24s dispatched to Paderborn fail to bomb because there
were
no PFF aircraft in the formation; 18 B-24s were damaged; 1 airman
was KIA.
Escort is provided by 90 P-38s, 311 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s
and
153 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; 1 P-38 and 4 P-51s are lost
and 1 P-47
is damaged beyond repair; 1 pilot is KIA and 5 MIA.
Mission 319 Part 2: 62 B-17s are dispatched to Cologne but are
recalled at
mid-English Channel because of weather; some aircraft carry 2,000 lb
(907 kg)
glide bombs on external racks. Escort is provided by 43 P-47s and 47
P-51s;
the P-47s claim 2-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft
Fighter-bomber missions: 33 P-38s (including Droopsnoot aircraft),
plus
escorts, hit Le Mans Airfield, France without loss; 24 P-51s, plus 4
escorts,
bomb Cormeilles-en-Vexin Airfield, France without loss.
Mission 320: 5 of 5 B-17s drop 800,000 leaflets on Ghent, Antwerp,
Brussels, Liege and Gosselies, Belgium at 2330-2358 hours without
loss.
HQ 34th Bombardment Group (Heavy) arrives at Mendlesham, England
from the
US.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): The Ninth Air Force Tactical
Air
Plan for Operation NEPTUNE (actual operations within Operation
OVERLORD; used
for security reasons on OVERLORD planning documents bearing place
names and
dates) is published, 10 days after receiving formal Allied
Expeditionary Air
Force (AEAF) directive ordering such a plan.
Around 125 B-26s attack Plattling landing ground, Germany. Fighters
fly
750+ sorties against scattered targets in NW Europe.
Unit moves in England: HQ 50th Troop Carrier Wing from Bottesford to
Exeter; HQ 439th Troop Carrier Group and 91st, 92d, 93d and 94th
Troop
Carrier Squadrons from Balderton to Upottery with C-47s; 95th, 96th,
97th and
98th Troop Carrier Squadrons, 440th Troop Carrier Group, from
Bottesford to
Exeter with C-47s.
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