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FRIDAY, 14 JULY 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): With the conversion of the
55th
Fighter Group from P-38s to P-51s, the Eighth acquires a majority of
P-51
groups to provide longer-range high-altitude escort for the heavy
bombers.
Conversion to P-51s will continue until by the end of the year every
group
except 1 will be equipped with them.
Mission 472: In a morning mission 319 of 359 B-17s drop 3,700
containers of
supplies to French interior forces in S France; they claim 5-2-2
Luftwaffe
aircraft; 15 B-17s are damaged. Escort is provided by 465 P-47s and
P-51s;
they claim 4-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft.
Mission 473: During the evening 131 B-24s are dispatched to hit
airfields
in France; 54 hit Montdidier Airfield and 39 hit Peronne Airfield; 9
B-24s
are damaged. 40 other B-24s fail to bomb because of failure of
blind-bombing
equipment. Escort is provided by 79 P-38s and P-51s; 1 P-38 is
damaged beyond
repair.
94 of 100 P-38s fly fighter-bomber missions against rail targets E
and SE
of Paris; they claim 2-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-38 is lost (pilot
is MIA).
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In France, weather again
curtails
operations; 62 B-26s and A-20s, using Oboe, bomb a railway
embankment at
Bourth and rail bridge at Merey; fighters provide escort and fly
armed
reconnaissance over widespread areas of NW France, attacking
bridges, trains,
rail lines, and military transport targets; 85 enemy fighters give
battle
near Brezolles and Alencon; 6 fighters are claimed by US fighters,
against 5
missing from the IX Fighter Command; the IX Tactical Air Command
strafes and
bombs defended positions ahead of the US First Army; and fighters
cut rail
lines in the L'Aigle-Alencon area, bomb troop concentrations near
Periers,
and marshalling yards at Chateaudun and Aube-sur-Rile.
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