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SATURDAY, 8 APRIL 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 291: 3 separate
forces, a
total of 664 bombers divided into 13 combat wings, escorted by 780
fighters,
are dispatched against airfields in NW Germany and aircraft
factories in the
Brunswick area; 34 bombers and 23 fighters are lost.
1. 59 of 59 B-17s hit Oldenburg Airfield; 32 B-17s are damaged;
casualties
are 5 WIA.
2. 255 B-17s are dispatched to Achmer, Quakenbruck and Rheine
Airfields; 83
hit Quakenbruck, 60 hit Achmer, 41 hit Rheine, 22 hit Twente
Enschede, 21 hit
Hesepe, 19 hit Handorf and 3 hit targets of opportunity; 4 B-17s are
lost and
128 damaged; casualties are 1 KIA, 3 WIA and 40 MIA.
3. 350 B-24s are dispatched to aviation industry targets in
Brunswick; 190
hit the primary, 59 hit Rosslingen, 48 hit Langenhagen Airfield and
6 hit
targets of opportunity; they claim 58-9-32 Luftwaffe aircraft; 30
B-24s are
lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 87 damaged; casualties are 8 KIA,
23 WIA
and 300 MIA.
Escort is provided by 136 P-38s, 438 Eighth and Ninth Air Force
P-47s and
206 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; the fighters claim 88-3-46
Luftwaffe
aircraft in the air and 49-6-38 on the ground: 5 P-38s are lost and
3
damaged, 5 pilots are MIA; 4 P-47s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair
and 12
damaged, 4 pilots are MIA; 14 P-51s are lost and 3 damaged, 14
pilots are MIA.
Mission 292: 5 of 5 B-17s drop 1 million leaflets on Liege,
Brussels,
Ghent, Antwerp, and Mont-sur-Sombre, Belgium at 2215-2227 hours
without loss.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In Belgium, 198 B-26s attack
Hasselt
marshalling yard and hit Coxyde Airfield; and 32 P-47s bomb the area
around
Hasselt.
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