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THURSDAY, 6 JULY 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 455: In the
morning,
missions are flown to France and Germany:
1. 800 bombers and 224 fighters are dispatched to bomb 18 V-weapon
sites in
the Pas de Calais area; 556 of 641 B-17s and 133 of 159 B-24s bomb;
1 B-17 is
damaged beyond repair; 161 B-17s and 59 B-24s are damaged; 2 airmen
are KIA
and 3 WIA. Escort is provided by 141 P-38s and 83 P-51s; they claim
4-0-0
Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-38 is lost (pilot is MIA).
2. 229 of 262 B-24s bomb the dock area at Kiel, Germany and 1 hits a
target
of opportunity; 3 B-24s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 105
damaged; 8
airmen are WIA and 22 MIA. Escort is provided by 168 of 189 P-51s; 1
P-51 is
lost (pilot is MIA).
Mission 456: In the late afternoon 73 of 104 B-17s and 148 of 176
B-24s
strike 6 V-weapon sites and supply installations, 3 railroad
bridges, a
highway bridge, and an airfield in N France. Escort is provided by
443 P-38s,
P-47s and P-51s; 1 P-47 is lost; afterwards a squadron of P-47s
dive-bombs 3
airfields in the Conches area.
212 P-38s and P-47s, fly fighter-bomber missions against rail and
road
traffic in the Paris area; they claim 11-1-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2
P-47s are
lost (pilots are MIA).
Mission 457: 7 of 7 B-17s drop leaflets in Belgium and France during
the
night.
20 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions; 1 B-24 is lost. A C-47 makes the
first landing at a secret airstrip in the Ain, France area.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In France during the morning
around
500 B-26s and A-20s bomb bridges and rail lines at 8 locations; in
the
afternoon 5 targets are attacked, including bridges, fuel dumps,
railroad
tracks, and a V-weapon location; 15+ fighter groups escort bombers,
fly armed
reconnaissance of rail lines, roads, and marshalling yards, damaging
or
destroying tracks, trains, a tunnel, a building, and a supply dump;
fighters
also cover the beach and bomb and strafe troop concentrations and
gun
positions; HQ 404th Fighter Group and 506th, 507th and 508th Fighter
Squadrons move from Winkton, England to Chapelle with P-47s; the
14th Liaison
Squadron, XIX Tactical Air Command, moves from Ibsley, England to
Nehou with
L-5s; and the 388th Fighter Squadron, 365th Fighter Group, moves
from
Beaulieu, England to Azeville with P-47s. In England, HQ 367th
Fighter Group
and 393d and 394th Fighter Squadrons move from Stony Cross to Ibsley
with
P-38s.
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