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TUESDAY, 8 FEBRUARY 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 214: 53 of 54 B-24s
hit
the V-weapon site at Siracourt, France while 57 of 73 B-24s hit the
V-weapon site at Watten, France; 41 B-24s are damaged and 10 airmen
are WIA;
escort is 89 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s. 88 of 236 B-17s hit
the
marshalling yards at Frankfurt, Germany using blind-bombing
techniques; 107
other B-17s hit targets of opportunity; they claim 1-3-0 Luftwaffe
aircraft;
13 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 108 damaged;
casualties are
11 KIA, 4 WIA and 130 MIA; escort is provided by 77 P-38s, 435
Eighth and
Ninth Air Force P-47s and 41 Ninth Air Force P-51s; they claim
16-1-8
Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 P-38s, 3 P-47s and 4 P-51s are lost, 1 P-47 is
damaged beyond repair and 4 P-47s are damaged; casualties are 9 MIA.
Mission 215: 6 of 6 B-17s drop 360 bundles of leaflets in a
CARPETBAGGER
operation over Caen, Rouen, Paris, Rennes and Amiens, France at
2106-2136
hours without loss.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): HQ Ninth Air Force extends IX
Bomber
Command's choice of targets considerably, although first priority
for
Operation POINTBLANK missions [the Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO)
of US and
RAF air forces against the Luftwaffe and German aircraft industry]
and next
priority for Operation CROSSBOW (code name for operations against
German
V-weapon sites) targets is maintained.
In a morning raid, nearly 200 B-26s attack V-weapon sites and
targets of
opportunity in NW France. In an afternoon raid, 100+ B-26s bomb
V-weapon
sites and military instsllations in the same general area, most of
the B-26s
attacking Breck-sur-Mer. This is the IX Bomber Command's first
2-mission day.
494th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 344th Bombardment Group
(Medium),
arrives at Stansted, England from the US with B-26s; first mission
is 29
Feb.
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