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SATURDAY, 5 AUGUST 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 519: In the
morning, 1,171
bombers and 646 fighters are dispatched to attack strategic targets
in the
Magdeburg-Brunswick-Hannover region of Germany including oil
refineries and
tank and aircraft production; 13 bombers and 4 fighters are lost:
1. Of 215 B-17s, 93 hit Magdeburg/Neustadt, 87 hit Magdeburg/Krupp,
14 hit
Helmstedt Airfield and 6 hit targets of opportunity; they claim
3-1-3
Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 B-17s are lost and 189 damaged; 2 airmen are
KIA, 8 WIA
and 28 MIA. Escort is provided by 174 P-38s and P-51s; they claim
19-1-7
aircraft in the air and 1-0-2 on the ground; 1 P-38 and 3 P-51s are
lost
(pilots are MIA) and 1 P-38 and 5 P-51s are damaged; 1 pilot is KIA
and 1
WIA.
2. 70 of 78 B-24s hit Halberstadt Airfield and 1 hits a target of
opportunity; 1 B-24 is lost and 7 damaged; 9 airmen are MIA. Escort
is
provided by 41 of 47 P-47s; they claim 4-0-1 aircraft.
3. Of 452 B-24s, 98 hit Brunswick Aero-Engineering, 85 hit
Fallerslaben, 69
hit Brunswick/Wilhelmitor, 65 hit Brunswick/Me 110 Assembly Plant,
44 hit
Brunswick/Bussing, 30 hit Brunswick aircraft components factory, 9
hit Goslar
Airfield and 8 hit targets of opportunity; 7 B-24s are lost, 2
damaged beyond
repair and 147 damaged; 13 airmen are KIA, 5 WIA and 55 MIA. Escort
is
provided by 172 of 188 P-51s; they claim 5-0-1 in the air and 3-0-3
on the
ground; 1 P-51 is damaged.
4. Of 426 B-17s, 176 hit Nienburg, 143 hit Hannover/Langenhagen
Airfield,
72 hit Dollbergen and 3 hit targets of opportunity; 2 B-17s are
lost, 1 is
damaged beyond repair and 130 are damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 5 WIA
and 15
MIA. Escort is provided by 186 of 197 P-51s; they claim 1-0-0
aircraft; 2
P-51s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 6 damaged; 2 pilots are
MIA.
Mission 520: 38 of 39 B-17s hit 6 V-weapon sites in the Pas de
Calais; 19
B-17s are damaged. Escort is provided by 10 of 12 P-51s; they claim
0-0-1
aircraft on the ground.
Mission 522: 6 of 6 B-17s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and
France
during the night.
19 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.
In England, HQ 492d Bombardment Group (Heavy) moves from North
Pickenham to
Harrington; and the 406th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), VIII Air
Force
Composite Command [attached to 801st Bombardment Group
(Provisional)], moves
from Harrington to Cheddington with B-24s.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In order that operations
controlled
by the Ninth Air Force be developed in close association with HQ
12th Army
Group, the Ninth's HQ at Uxbridge and Grandcamp-les-Bains are closed
and a
single HQ opened the following day (6 Aug) at Saint-Sauveur-Lendelin,
France
near both Advance HQ 12th Army Group and Advance HQ Allied
Expeditionary Air
Force (AEAF). HQ 50th and 53d Troop Carrier Wings of the IX Troop
Carrier
Command are attached to the Mediterranean Allied Air Force (MAAF)
for the
purpose of forming, with HQ 51st Troop Carrier Wing, a Provisional
Troop
Carrier Air Division to handle the airborne phase of the invasion of
S
France; and HQ 406th Fighter Group moves from Ashford, England to
Tour-en-
Bassin. In England, HQ 397th Bombardment Group (Medium) and 597th
and 599th
Bombardment Squadrons (Medium) move from Rivenhall to Hurn with
B-26s.
In France, 300+ A-20s and B-26s bomb Saint-Malo harbor and Foret de
Sille
fuel dump during the night of 4/5 Aug, and during the day, rail
bridges at 6
cities in N and W France, and marshalling yard at Compiegne;
fighters furnish
cover for ground forces and fly armed reconnaissance over wide areas
of N
France.
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