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TUESDAY, 15 AUGUST 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 554: 932 bombers
and 443
fighters are dispatched to attack 11 airfields in NW Germany, the
Netherlands
and Belgium in conjunction with 1,000 Royal Air Force (RAF) heavy
bombers and
Mosquitos raiding 9 airfields in the Netherlands and Belgium; 16
bombers and
5 fighters are lost; numbers in parenthesis indicate the number of
bombing
attacking:
1. 219 B-17s are dispatched to hit German airfields at Cologne/Ostheim
(108), Frankfurt/Eschborn (65) and Wiesbaden (38); 3 others hit
targets of
opportunity; they claim 4-2-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 9 B-17s are lost,
2 damaged
beyond repair and 86 damaged; 7 airmen are KIA, 8 WIA and 81 MIA.
Escort is
provided by 112 of 141 P-51s; they claim 10-0-1 aircraft; 1 P-51 is
lost
(pilot MIA) and 2 damaged.
2. 350 B-24s are dispatched to German airfields at Wittmundhaafen
(91),
Zwischenahn (90), Vechta (67), Plantlunne (54) and Hopstein (10);
they claim
9-1-2 aircraft; 4 B-24s are lost and 6 damaged; 1 airman is WIA and
40 MIA.
Escort is provided by 163 P-38s and P-51s; they claim 4-0-0 aircraft
in the
air and 7-0-9 on the ground; 2 P-38s and 2 P-51s are lost (pilots
MIA); 3
P-51s are damaged; 1 pilot is WIA.
3. 298 B-17s are dispatched to Dutch airfields at Handorf (109),
Venlo
(104) and Twente/Enschede (75); 3 others hit targets of opportunity;
2 B-17s
are lost and 6 damaged; 19 airmen are MIA.
4. In Belgium, 59 of 65 B-24s hit Florennes/Juzaine Airfield and 1
hits a
target of opportunity; 1 B-24 is lost and 3 damaged.
The two missions above are escorted by 118 of 124 P-51s without
loss.
33 of 35 P-47s dive-bomb and skip-bomb a repair shop and locomotives
in the
marshalling yard at Braine-le-Comtes; 1 P-47 is lost and 4 damaged;
4 pilots
are MIA.
12 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.
HQ 491st Bombardment Group (Heavy) and the 852d, 853d, 854th and
855th
Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy) move from Metfield to North Pickenham,
England
with B-24s.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): The 50th and 53d Troop
Carrier
Wings, on loan to the Mediterranean Allied Air Force (MAAF),
participate in
the invasion of S France as part of the Provisional Troop Carrier
Air
Division. In France, 330+ A-20s and B-26s with fighter escort bomb
Marseille-
en-Beauvaisis and Foret de Chantilly ammunition and fuel dumps, rail
bridges
at Auvers-sur-Oise and L'Isle-Adam, Serqueux marshalling yard, and
coastal
defense at Saint- Malo; fighters fly cover for 5 infantry and
armored
divisions, and fly extensive armed reconnaissance over N and W
France; HQ
365th Fighter Group and 388th Fighter Squadron move from Azeville to
Lignerolles with P-47s; HQ 370th Fighter Group and the 401st, 402d
and 485th
Fighter Squadrons move from Cardonville to La Vielle with P-38s; the
14th
Liaison Squadron, XIX Tactical Air Command (attached to Third Army),
moves
from St Germain to La Bozoge with L-5s; the 33d Photographic
Reconnaissance
Squadron, 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group, moves from Chalgrove,
England
to Le Molay with F-5s; the 356th Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter
Group, moves
from Cricqueville to Gael with P-51s; and the 392d, 393d and 394th
Fighter
Squadrons, 367th Fighter Group, move from Carentan to Cricqueville
with
P-38s.
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