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THURSDAY, 24 AUGUST 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 568: 1,319 bombers
and 739
fighters are dispatched on visual attacks on strategic targets in
Germany
with some PFF on targets of opportunity; 26 bombers and 4 fighters
are lost;
targets are (numbers in parenthesis indicate bombers attacking):
1. 433 B-24s are dispatched to attack aviation industry targets at
Brunswick/Waggum (125), Brunswick/Querum (99) and Hannover/Langenhagen
(72)
and an oil refinery at Misburg (88); 5 others hit targets of
opportunity;
they claim 0-0-1 aircraft; 5 B-24s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair
and 183
damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 54 MIA. Escort is provided by 248
P-38s, P-47s
and P-51s; they claim 2-0-0 aircraft in the air and 8-0-0 on the
ground; 2
P-51s are lost and 2 damaged; 1 pilot is MIA.
2. 451 B-17s are dispatched to hit Merseburg oil refinery (185),
Weimar
(129) and Kolleda Airfield (30); targets of opportunity hit are
airfields at
Goslar (37), Nordhausen (11), Vorden (11) and Stade (2), and Leipzig
(10)
plus 7 others; they claim 10-3-3 aircraft; 16 B-17s are lost, 2
damaged
beyond repair and 189 damaged; 3 airmen are KIA, 39 WIA and 148 MIA.
Escort
is provided by 121 of 152 P-51s; they claim 4-0-1 aircraft without
loss.
3. 383 B-17s are dispatched to hit oil industry targets at Brux
(139),
Ruhland (135) and Freital (65); 15 hit targets of opportunity; 3
B-17s are
lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 143 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 5
WIA and 18
MIA. Escort is provided by 240 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 4-0-0
aircraft in
the air and 6-0-0 on the ground; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots are MIA)
and 1 is
damaged.
4. 43 of 52 B-24s hit Kiel/Walther; 3 others hit Hemmingstedt
Airfield and
2 hit targets of opportunity; 2 B-24s are lost, 1 damaged beyond
repair and
32 damaged; 27 airmen are MIA. Escort is provided by 17 of 17 P-51s
without
loss.
Mission 569: 1 B-17 drops leaflets on Brest, France during the
night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In France, weather cancels a
IX
Bomber Command mission against 4 fuel dumps N of the Seine River;
fighters
give air cover to ground forces, mainly for 3 armored and 2 infantry
divisions, bomb Seine River bridges, and fly armed reconnaissance
along the
Seine and around Troyes, Orleans, and Tours; about 270 C-47s fly
supply and
evacuation missions; HQ 303d Fighter Wing moves from Houesville to
Rennes; HQ
10th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance) and 12th Tactical
Reconnaissance
Squadron move from Rennes/St-Jacques to Chateaudun with F-6s; and HQ
366th
Fighter Group and 389th and 391st Fighter Squadrons move from St
Pierre du
Mont to Dreux/Vermouillet with P-47s. In England, the 90th Troop
Carrier
Squadron, 438th Troop Carrier Group, that has been operating from
Welford
Park returns to Greenham Common. The following units that have been
operating
in Italy with C-47s return to base:
- 91st, 92d and 94th Troop Carrier Squadrons, 439th Troop Carrier
Group,
from Orbetello Airfield to Upottery.
- 95th, 96th and 97th Troop Carrier Squadrons, 440th Troop Carrier
Group,
from Ombrone Airfield to Exeter.
- 99th, 100th, 301st and 302d Troop Carrier Squadrons, 441st Troop
Carrier
Group, from Grosseto to Merryfield.
- 304th, 305th and 306th Troop Carrier Squadron, 442d Troop Carrier
Group,
from Follonica to Weston Zoyland.
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