|
THURSDAY, 3 AUGUST 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Two missions are flown.
Mission 512: 672 bombers and 352 fighters are dispatched to hit rail
and
other targets in the French/German border area and oil dumps and
bridges SE
of Paris; 6 bombers and 6 fighters are lost:
1. Of 345 B-17s, 106 hit the Merkwille Oil Refinery, 68 hit
Strasbourg
marshalling yard, 62 hit Saarbrucken marshalling yard, 54 hit
Mulhouse
marshalling yard, 16 hit Toul/Croix de Metz Airfield, 11 hit a
railroad near
Saarbrucken and 6 hit targets of opportunity; they claim 4-1-1
Luftwaffe
aircraft; 6 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 98 damaged;
9 airmen
are KIA, 9 WIA and 54 MIA. Escort is provided by 175 of 200 P-51s;
they claim
6-0-0 aircraft in the air and 5-0-1 on the ground; 6 P-51s are lost
(pilots
are MIA).
2. Of 155 B-17s, 38 hit Troyes Bridge and 36 hit Joigny/La Roche
Bridge; 11
B-17s are damaged. Escort is provided by 96 of 103 P-51s.
3. Of 172 B-24s, 27 hit Conches Airfield, 12 hit Melun marshalling
yard, 11
hit Etampes Mondesir Airfield and 3 hit targets of opportunity; 51
B-24s are
damaged. Escort is provided by 47 P-47s.
Mission 513: 482 bombers and 178 fighters are dispatched to oil
installations and dumps in the Brussels, Paris and Lille areas and
CROSSBOW
(V-weapon) sites in the Pas de Calais; 2 bombers are lost:
1. 112 of 126 B-17s and 117 of 121 B-24s hit V-weapon sites in the
Pas de
Calais; 1 B-24 is lost; 6 B-17s and 20 B-24s are damaged. Escort is
provided
by 43 of 46 P-51s.
2. Of 76 B-24s, 62 hit Brussels/Vivorde, 10 hit Ghent/Terneuzen and
1 hits
a target of opportunity; 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 49
damaged; 2
airmen are KIA. Escort is provided by 33 of 36 P-47s.
3. Of 159 B-24s, 49 hit Harnes, 28 hit Courchelettes, 22 hit Pas de
Calais
V-weapons sites, 10 hit Lille/Marquette, 10 hit Lille/Sequedin and 8
hit Ghent
marshalling yard; 1 B-24 is lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 38
damaged; 4
airmen are KIA, 4 WIA and 10 MIA. Escort is provided by 90 of 96
P-51s.
133 P-38s and P-47s fly fighter-bomber missions against rail traffic
in the
Metz-Strasbourg-Saarbrucken area; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft in the
air and
1-0-0 on the ground; 1 P-47 is lost.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In France, 180+ A-20s and
B-26s bomb
rail bridges, overpasses, and junctions at Mantes-la-Jolie,
Chartres, La
Chenaie and Merey, fuel dump at Maintenon, and alternate rail
targets in N
France; fighters escort IX Bomber Command bombers and a few C-47s,
provide
cover for ground forces, and fly armed reconnaissance over wide
areas of N
and W France; and the 22d and 23d Fighter Squadrons, 36th Fighter
Group, move
from Kingsnorth, England to Brucheville with P-47s.
|
