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TUESDAY, 8 AUGUST 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Shuttle missions continue
as 78
B-17s with 55 P-51s escort, leave bases in the USSR to hit airfields
in
Rumania; 38 hit Bizau and 35 hit Zlistea; no Luftwaffe fighters are
encountered during the mission and the force flies to Italy.
Mission 530: 414 B-24s and 265 fighters are dispatched to attack
airfields
and V-weapon sites in France; 115 hit V-weapons sites in the Pas de
Calais;
91 hit Clastres Airfield, 53 hit Romilly air depot, 50 hit La Perthe
Airfield, 12 hit Laon/Athies Airfield, 14 hit railroad bridges, 13
hit
targets of opportunity and 11 hit Bretigny Airfield; 1 B-24 is lost,
1 is
damaged beyond repair and 139 are damaged; 11 airmen are KIA, 9 WIA
and 9
MIA. Escort is provided by 265 P-47s and P-51s; 2 P-51s are lost
(pilots are
MIA).
Mission 531: 681 B-17s and 100 P-51s are dispatched to bomb enemy
troop
concentrations and strongpoints S of Caen; 25 Canadian soldiers are
killed and
131 wounded by short bombing; 231 hit Cauvincourt, 99 hit
Bretteville-sur-
Laise strongpoint, 99 hit St Sylvain strong point, 67 hit targets of
opportunity and 1 hits Gouvix strongpoint; they claim 1-0-0
Luftwaffe
aircraft; 7 B-17s are lost, 4 damaged beyond repair and 294 damaged;
8 airmen
are KIA, 15 WIA and 35 MIA. Escort is provided by 91 of 100 P-51s;
they claim
4-1-6 aircraft; 3 P-51s are lost (pilots are MIA).
41 of 50 P-51s escort RAF Coastal Command Beaufighters on a convoy
strike
in Norway; 3 P-51s are lost and 3 damaged; 1 pilot is WIA and 3 MIA.
175 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s fly a fighter-bomber mission against the
railroad N and W of Dijon; 2 P-47s and 2 P-51s are lost; 1 P-38, 1
P-47 and 1
P-51 are lost; 5 airmen are MIA.
Mission 532: 5 of 5 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): Lieutenant General Hoyt S
Vandenberg
assumes command of the Ninth Air Force.
In France, 406 B-26s and A-20s bomb a rail embankment and bridges at
8
locations in N and W France, attack radar installations between
Argentan and
Alencon, and give tactical support to ground forces near Saint-Malo;
fighters
escort IX Bomber Command aircraft, give defensive air cover, and fly
armed
reconnaissance E of Paris and in the battle area; and HQ 100th
Fighter Wing
moves from St-Pierre-Eglise to Rennes.
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