|
SUNDAY, 9 APRIL 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 293: 542 bombers
and 719
fighters are dispatched to aircraft factories and airfields in
Germany and
Poland; the bombers claim 45-8-14 Luftwaffe aircraft; 32 bombers and
10
fighters are lost; 10 bombers are damaged beyond repair. Details
are:
1. 145 B-17s are dispatched to aviation industry at Rahmel, Poland
and
Marienburg, Germany; 96 hit Marienburg, 41 hit Rahmel and 3 hit
targets of
opportunity; 6 B-17s are lost and 44 damaged; casualties are 8 KIA,
9 WIA and
60 MIA.
2. 151 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Focke-Wulf plant at Poznan,
Poland
and the Heinkel plant at Warnemunde, Germany; 85 hit Warnemunde, 33
hit
Poznan and 18 hit Marienehe Airfield; 12 B-17s are lost and 93
damaged;
casualties are 6 WIA and 120 MIA.
3. 246 B-24s are dispatched to hit an assembly plant at Tutow,
Germany; 106
hit the primary, 14 hit Parchim, Germany and 6 hit targets of
opportunity; 14
B-24s are lost and 30 damaged; casualties are 17 KIA, 6 WIA and 140
MIA.
Escort is provided by 119 P-38s, 387 Eighth and Ninth Air Force
P-47s and
213 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; the fighters claim 20-1-6
Luftwaffe
aircraft in the air and 19-0-8 on the ground; no fighter support is
available
over the targets because of bad weather or distance: 2 P-38s are
lost, 2
damaged beyond repair and 9 damaged, casualties are 1 KIA and 2 MIA;
4 P-47s
are lost, 1 is damaged beyond repair and 2 damaged, casualties are 2
KIA, 2
WIA and 3 MIA; 4 P-51s are lost and 1 damaged beyond repair, 1 pilot
is MIA.
Mission 294: 5 of 5 B-17s drop 2.752 million leaflets on Rouen,
Paris,
Amiens and Caen, France at 2224-2338 hours without loss.
23 B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER operations.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): 14th Liaison Squadron, US
Strategic
Air Forces in Europe (attached to US Third Army), arrives at
Alderley Edge,
England from the US with L-5s; first mission is in Jul.
|
