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WEDNESDAY, 16 AUGUST 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 556: 1,090 bombers
and 692
fighters are dispatched to make visual attacks on oil refineries and
aircraft
plants in C Germany; 23 bombers and 3 fighters are lost (number in
parenthesis indicate number of bombers attacking):
1. 425 B-17s are dispatched to hit Delitzsch air depot (102), the
aviation
industry at Schkeuditz (92) and Halle (60) and the oil industry at
Bohlen
(88); other targets are Naumburg (15), Halberstadt Airfield (13) and
targets
of opportunity (9); they claim 6-4-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; 10 B-17s
are lost, 1
damaged beyond repair and 234 damaged; 4 airmen are KIA, 9 WIA and
93 MIA.
Escort is provided by 246 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 15-1-3
aircraft in the
air and 0-0-3 on the ground; 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair; 1
pilot is WIA.
2. 234 B-17s are dispatched to hit the oil industry at Rositz (105)
and
Zeitz (101); 3 others hit targets of opportunity; 6 B-17s are lost
and 88
damaged; 3 airmen are WIA and 56 MIA. Escort is provided by 166
P-47s and
P-51s; they claim 5-0-1 aircraft; 2 P-47s are lost (pilots are MIA).
3. 65 B-24s are dispatched to Halberstadt Airfield (51); 10 others
hit
Quedlinburg Airfield and 1 hits a targets of opportunity; 1 B-24 is
damaged
beyond repair and 8 damaged. Escort is provided by 42 of 46 P-38s
without
loss.
4. 366 B-24s are dispatched to hit the aviation industry at Dessau
(99),
Kothen (71) and Magdeburg/Neustadt (67) and the oil industry at
Magdeburg/Rothensee; 2 others hit targets of opportunity; 7 B-24s
are lost
and 173 damaged; 5 airmen are WIA and 66 MIA. Escort is provided by
156 P-47s
and P-51s; they claim 12-0-0 aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot is
MIA).
Mission 557: 8 of 8 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In France, about 130 B-26s
and A-20s,
with fighter escort, hit a Foret de Roumare ammunition dump and rail
bridges
at Pont-Audemer, Thibouville, Brionne, Nassandres, and Le Bourg;
fighters
give air cover to an armored division and infantry forces, and fly
patrol and
armed reconnaissance over N and W France; HQ 70th Fighter Wing moves
from
Villedieu les Poeles to Le Teilleul; and HQ 50th Fighter Group and
the 10th,
81st and 313th Fighter Squadrons move from Carentan to Meautis with
P-47s.
The 93d Troop Carrier Squadron, 439th Troop Carrier Group, based at
Upottery,
England, ceases operating from Ramsbury and begins operating from
Membury.
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