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THURSDAY, 3 FEBRUARY 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force):
Mission 206: 553 of 671 B-17s
hit the port area at Wilhelmshaven, Germany; another 56 hit the
Emden area;
and 1 hits Oldenburg; 1.8 million leaflets are dropped by B-17s; 193
B-24s
are dispatched but they abort the mission over the Zuider Zee due to
clouds;
0-1-0 Luftwaffe aircraft are claimed; 4 B-17s are lost, 1 B-24 is
damaged
beyond repair and 47 B-17s are damaged; casualties are 2 KIA, 9 WIA
and 42
MIA. Escort is provided by 74 P-38s, 508 P-47s of the Eighth and
Ninth Air
Force and 50 Ninth Air Force P-51s; they claim 8-0-3 Luftwaffe
aircraft; 8
P-47s and 1 P-51 are lost, 3 P-47s are damaged beyond repair and 13
P-47s
are damaged; casualties are 9 MIA.
Mission 207: 7 of 7 B-17s drop 420
bundles of leaflets on Paris, Rouen,
Amiens, Reims, Orleans and Rennes, France at 2110-2146 hours; no
losses.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): The 358th Fighter Group at
Raydon
becomes operational with P-47s. This is the first of 17 fighter
groups which
are to be added by 9 May 44 to the Ninth Air Force, which previously
had only
1 fighter group, the 354th at Boxted with P-51s.
52 B-26s bomb V-weapon sites on the W coast of France. Weather
causes
100+ other aircraft to abandon the mission.
380th Fighter Squadron, 363d Fighter Group, transfers from Keevil to
Rivenhall, England with P-51s, first mission on 24 Feb.
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