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WEDNESDAY, 19 JULY 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 482: 1,082 of 1,242
B-17s and B-24s and 670 of 761 P-38s, P-47s, and P-51s dispatched,
operating
in 5 forces, attack targets in W and SW Germany including 2 plants
producing
hydrogen peroxide (an ingredient in V-weapon fuels), a chemical
plant, 2
aircraft factories, 4 ball bearing plants, 6 marshalling yards, 4
airfields,
and a river dam; 17 bombers and 7 fighters are lost. Attacks in the
the
Munich area are followed, within 90 minutes, by Fifteenth Air Force
attacks.
731 fighters, operating in 19 separate units support the bombers; 8
of these
units afterwards strafe ground targets, including parked aircraft,
locomotives and rolling stock, and road vehicles. The bombers claim
6-4-4
Luftwaffe aircraft; the fighters claim 17-0-4 Luftwaffe aircraft in
the air
and 38-0-14 on the ground.
Mission 483: 5 of 5 B-17s drop leaflets in France and Belgium during
the
night.
5 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In France, during the
afternoon 262
B-26s and A-20s bomb bridges on the Loire and Seine Rivers and a
fuel dump at
Bruz; fighters provide escort and, though limited by bad weather,
hit rail
lines and scattered enemy installations and movements in the
Amiens-Tours-
Chartres area and along the Ghent-Brussels, Belgium railroad; HQ
373d Fighter
Group arrives at Tour-en-Bassin from Woodchurch, England; and the
513th
Fighter Squadron, 406th Fighter Group, moves from Ashford, England
to Tour-
en-Bassin with P-47s. The 83d, 84th, 85th and 86th Troop Carrier
Squadrons,
437th Troop Carrier Group, based at Ramsbury, England begin
operating from
Montala Airfield, Italy with C-47s.
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