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MONDAY, 24 JULY 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 492: Heavy bombers
are
scheduled to participate in a US First Army offensive (Operation
COBRA) to
penetrate the German defenses W of Saint-Lo and secure Coutances;
1,586
bombers and 671 fighters are dispatched but bad weather causes the
ground
forces to delay the attack until next day, and cloud conditions
cause 1,102
bombers to abort. Targets hit are:
1. Of 909 B-17s, 343 hit the Periers/St Lo area and 35 hit the
Granville
railroad junction; 1 B-17 is lost and 70 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 1
1 WIA
and 1 MIA.
2. 109 of 677 B-24s bomb targets of opportunity including road
intersections and rail lines; 2 B-24s are lost and 74 damaged; 1
airman is
KIA, 1 WIA and 20 MIA.
Escort for the bombers is provided by 478 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s;
they
claim 1-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-1 on the ground; 3
P-38s
are lost (pilots are MIA) and 1 P-47 is damaged beyond repair and 1
P-47 is
damaged.
143 of 169 P-51s fly a sweep over Lechfeld and Leipheim Airfields in
Germany; they claim 3-0-0 aircraft in the air and 12-0-16 on the
ground; 2
P-51s are lost (pilots are MIA), 1 damaged beyond repair and 6
damaged.
Mission 493: 7 of 7 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.
6 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In France, 11 groups of
bombers
scheduled to participate in Operation COBRA have missions cancelled
due to
weather; 5 groups of B-26s hit rail bridges and 5 groups of B-26s
and A-20s
strike 3 fuel and ammunition dumps; fighters fly escort to the
bombers, fly
area cover, bomb installations in the Laval-Nantes-Le Mans-Chartres
areas,
and hit bridges and supply dumps in support of the US First Army;
and HQ
370th Fighter Group arrives at Cardonville from Andover, England. In
England,
HQ 394th Bombardment Group (Medium) and 584th and 585th Bombardment
Squadrons
(Medium) move from Boreham to Holmsley with B-26s.
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