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MONDAY, 31 JULY 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 507: 1,295 bombers
and
701 fighters are dispatched to hit targets in Germany and airfields
in
France; 16 bombers and 3 fighters are lost:
1. Of 705 B-17s, 567 bomb Munich, 43 hit Schleissheim Airfield, 36
hit
aircraft engine plants at Munich-Allach and 4 hit targets of
opportunity; 10
B-17s are lost and 331 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 6 WIA and 82 MIA.
Escort is
provided by 439 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 0-1-0 Luftwaffe aircraft
in the
air and 18-0-12 on the ground; 1 P-47 and 2 P-51s are lost (pilots
are MIA)
and 5 P-47s and 3 P-51s are damaged.
2. 447 of 486 B-24s bomb the chemical works and city at
Ludwigshafen, and
SW part of the city of Mannheim; 6 B-24s are lost and 186 damaged; 1
airman
is KIA, 7 WIA and 62 MIA. Escort is provided by 135 P-38s; 1 is
damaged.
3. Of 104 B-24s, 47 hit Laon/Athies Airfield, 36 hit Creil Airfield
and 1
hits Poix Airfield; 4 B-24s are damaged. Escort is provided by 38
P-47s and
P-51s; 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair (pilot is KIA) and 2 damaged.
13 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In France, around 500 A-20s
and
B-26s attack bridges on the Seine, Loire, Mayenne, and Ruisseau la
Forge
Rivers and a fuel dump at Foret de la Guerche; fighters fly armed
reconnaissance of activities in the Dieppe-Rouen areas, escort
bombers,
provide armored column cover, dive-bomb military targets in support
of the US
First Army and fly a few night intruder missions over enemy
territory; HQ
303d Fighter Wing moves from Ashford, England to La Combe; the 392d
Fighter
Squadron, 367th Fighter Group, moves from Ibsley, England to
Carentan with
P-38s; and the 401st, 402d and 485th Fighter Squadrons, 370th
Fighter Group,
arrive at Cardonville from Andover, England with P-38s
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