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FRIDAY, 18 AUGUST 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Three missions are flown
(numbers
in parenthesis are numbers of bombers attacking):
Mission 561: 52 B-24s are dispatched to hit Roye/Amy Airfield,
France (42)
and 10 hit targets of opportunity; 2 B-24s are lost, 1 damaged
beyond repair
and 37 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 1 WIA and 21 MIA. Escort is
provided by 96
of 99 P-51s without loss.
Mission 562: 720 bombers and 242 fighters are dispatched against
bridges,
airfields, fueld dumps and an aircraft engine factory in France and
Belgium;
2 bombers and 1 fighter are lost:
1. 269 B-17s are dispatched against bridges at Namur (37),
Liege/Benoit
(36), Huy (35), Yvoir (35), Liege/Seraing (26), Vise (25) and
Maastricht
(24); 13 hit Tongres marshalling yard, 12 hit Eindhoven Airfield and
12 hit
targets of opportunity; 57 B-17s are damaged and 5 airmen are WIA.
Escort is
proivded by 99 of 153 P-38 and P-51s; they claim 46-0-15 Luftwaffe
aircraft
on the ground; 1 P-38 is lost (pilot is MIA), 1 P-51 is damaged
beyond repair
and 1 P-38 is damaged.
2. 256 B-24s are dispatched to hit airfields at Metz (78) and Nancy/Essey
(70) and Woippy (60) and Laneureville (35); 1 B-24 is damaged beyond
repair;
4 airmen are KIA and 2 WIA. Escort is provided by 38 of 43 P-51s; 1
P-51 is
lost (pilot is MIA).
3. 195 B-17s are dispatched to hit St Dizier Airfield (116),
Pacy-sur-
Armancon (39) and Bourran (38); 1 other hits a target of
opportunity; 7 B-17s
are damaged. Escort is provided by 93 of 96 P-51s; they claim 2-0-3
aircraft
on the ground; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots are MIA).
Mission 564: 7 of 7 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In France, nearly 100 B-26s
and
A-20s strike a fuel dump, ammunition dump, rail and road overpass,
rail
embankment, and junction beyond the battleline to disorganize
retreating
German forces; 1,000+ fighters fly cover over ground forces in the
Argentan-
Paris area, along the Seine River, and armed reconnaissance over N
and W
France; the 31st Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 10th
Photographic
Group (Reconnaissance), moves from Chalgrove, England to Rennes with
F-5s;
and the 425th Night Fighter Squadron, IX Air Defense Command, moves
from
Stoneman Park, England to Vannes with P-61s.
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