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SUNDAY, 2 JULY 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 450: 350 bombers
and 171
P-51s are dispatched to hit 13 V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais
area; 1
B-24 is lost:
1. Of 78 B-17s, 24 hit Fleury, 24 hit Fressin, 21 hit Blengermont
and 1
hits a target of opportunity; 33 B-17s are damaged.
2. Of 272 B-24s, 36 hit Crepy, 35 hit Fiefs, 24 hit Vignacourt, 23
hit
Blanc Pignon, 22 hit Courbronne, 21 hit Renescure, 13 hit Haute Cote
Island,
13 hit Mont Louis Ferme, 13 hit Santrecourt and 12 hit Belloy-sur-Somme;
1
B-24 is lost and 1 damaged beyond repair; 4 airmen are WIA and 9
MIA.
Escort for the above is provided by 166 of 171 P-51s without loss.
41 P-51s, temporarily in Italy while en route from the USSR to the
UK
during a shuttle mission, join Fifteenth Air Force fighters in
escorting
Fifteenth AF bombers against targets in the Budapest, Hungary area,
claiming
9 aircraft destroyed and suffering 4 losses.
37 B-24s CARPETBAGGER missions in France during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In France, all IX Bomber
Command
missions are cancelled due to bad weather; fighters of 7 groups of
the IX
Tactical Air Command fly interception missions in the Caen area and
cover
over the beach area, attack rail lines along the Loire, and hit a HQ
and
supply dumps and strongpoints near La Haye-du-Puits; HQ IX Tactical
Air
Command moves from Au Gay to Les Obeaux; and HQ 362d Fighter Group
moves
from Headcorn, England to Lignerolles.
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