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SATURDAY, 8 JULY 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 460: 1,029 bombers
and 714
fighters, in four forces, are dispatched to hit bridges, tunnels,
rail
targets and NOBALL (V-weapon) sites in France; only 462 aircraft
bomb due to
bad weather; 9 bombers and 1 fighter are lost:
1. Of 331 B-24s, 14 hit Schore Bridge, 9 hit Welle Bridge, 1 hits
Orsel
Airfield and 1 hits a target of opportunity; 20 B-24s are damaged;
escort is
provided by 266 P-38s and P-51s; they claim 20-0-19 Luftwaffe
aircraft on the
ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot is MIA).
2. Of 304 B-17s, 61 hit Poix Airfield, 49 hit V-1 sites, 37 hit
Etaples
Bridge, 13 hit a road junction, 12 hit Abbeville Airfield and 11 hit
Etaples
choke point; 4 B-17s are lost, 2 are damaged beyond repair and 90
damaged; 2
airmen are KIA, 7 WIA and 32 MIA. Escort is provided by 36 of 39
P-47s.
3. Of 130 B-24s, 71 hit V-1 sites, 13 hit St Vallery en Caux
Airfield and
11 hit Abbeville railroad junction; 3 B-17s are damaged beyond
repair and 27
are damaged.
4. Of 264 B-17s, 21 hit Jaigle, 20 hit Barenton and 10 hit Chandai
rail
junctions, 11 hit Nantes/Gassicourt Bridge, 11 hit Nantes railroad
bridge, 9
hit railroad tracks at Yvetot, 11 hit Nogent and 6 hit Rouen
marshalling
yards, 24 hit Conches and 11 hit St Andre de l'Eure Airfields and 25
hit
targets of opportunity; 5 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair
and 98
damaged; 4 airmen are KIA, 16 WIA and 51 MIA.
Forces 3 and 4 are escorted by 286 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; they
claim 0-0-1
Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground.
86 of 91 P-47s bomb St Andre de l'Eure Airfield without loss.
Mission 461: 4 of 5 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.
17 B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In France, about 280 A-20s
and B-26s
bomb V-weapon HQ at Chateau-de-Ribeaucourt, numerous strongpoints in
the Caen
battle area, rail bridges at Mantes-La-Jolie, Saumur, Nogent-le-Roi,
and Caen
and (late in evening) fuel dumps in Rennes and a bridge at Nantes;
fighters
escort the bombers and fly armed reconnaissance throughout wide
areas of
France, concentrating on the frontline area; targets hit include
marshalling
yards, bridges, ammunition and supply dumps, troop concentrations
and tanks.
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