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TUESDAY, 18 JULY 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 481: 1,394 bombers
and 476
fighters are dispatched to hit targets in Germany and tactical
targets in
France; 3 bombers and 3 fighters are lost:
1. 644 B-24s are dispatched, in conjunction with Ninth Air Force and
RAF
Bomber Command, to bomb enemy equipment and troop concentrations in
support
of the assault by the British Second Army in the Caen area; 249 hit
Solier,
146 hit Frenouville, 139 hit Troarns, 23 hit Hubert la Folie and 12
hit the
Mezidon marshalling yard; 1 B-24 is lost, 2 are damaged beyond
repair and 182
are damaged. 90 RAF Spitfires fly uneventful support for the B-24s.
2. Of 291 B-17s, 107 hit the Kiel port area, 55 hit the Hemminstedt
oil
refinery and 54 hit Cuxhaven; 21 B-17s are damaged. Escort is
provided by 48
P-38s and 84 P-51s without loss.
3. Of 459 B-17s, 377 hit the Peenemunde experimental establishment,
scientific HQ at Zinnowitz, and marshalling yards at Stralsund; 3
B-17s are
lost and 64 damaged. Escort is provided by 297 P-38s and P-51s; they
claim
21-0-12 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 P-51s are lost (2 pilot are MIA) and 1
is
damaged beyond repair.
25 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions in France during the night; 1
B-24
collides with an RAF aircraft over France and is lost.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In France, 400+ B-26s and
A-20s hit
various military targets in support of the ground forces in the Caen
area,
and later in the day bomb rail and highway bridges beyond the
frontlines;
large number of fighters fly escort, dive-bomb gun positions at
Rouen and
Mantes-la-Jolie, hit military targets in the Chartres area (using
rockets),
attack gun positions, bridges, and other targets in the Benney-Alencon-Saint-
Lo area, and fly armed reconnaissance and fighter sweeps over wide
areas of N
and W France. In England, HQ 98th Combat Bombardment Wing (Medium)
moves from
Earls Colne to Beaulieu; and HQ 387th Bombardment Group (Medium)
moves from
Chipping Ongar to Stony Cross. The following squadrons, based in
England,
begin operating from bases in Italy with C-47s:
- 91st, 92d and 94th Troop Carrier Squadrons, 439th Troop Carrier
Group,
based at Upottery operating from Orbetello Airfield.
- 95th, 96th and 97th Troop Carrier Squadrons, 440th Troop Carrier
Group,
based at Exeter operating from Ombrone Airfield.
- 99th, 100th and 302d Troop Carrier Squadrons, 441st Troop Carrier
Group,
based at Merryfield operating from Grosseto.
- 303d, 304th and 305th Troop Carrier Squadrons, 442d Troop Carrier
Group,
based at Weston Zoyland operating from Follonica.
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