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SUNDAY, 9 JULY 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 462: during a
morning
mission 150 B-17s are dispatched to bomb bridges and airfields in
France but
cloud cover causes the bombers to hit targets of opportunity; 68 hit
Chalonnes Bridge, 36 hit Chateaudun Airfield, 12 hit Bouchemaine
Bridge, 12
hit Chalonnes highway bridge and 12 hit Le Creusot Bridge; 1 B-17 is
lost and
10 damaged; 9 airmen are MIA. Escort is provided by 155 P-47s and
P-51s; 1
P-47 and 1 P-51 are lost (1 pilot is MIA).
Mission 463: 104 B-24s and 77 B-17s are dispatched to hit CROSSBOW
(V-weapon) sites in France but encounters poor weather; Only 37
B-24s bomb
V-weapon sites; 12 B-17s hit St Omber Longuenesse Airfield and 3 hit
targets
of opportunity; 1 B-24 is lost and 60 damaged; 2 airmen are WIA.
Escort is
provided by 158 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 5-0-3 Luftwaffe
aircraft.
90 of 96 P-38s strafe the Moulin-Nevers-Tour area claiming 1-0-1
Luftwaffe
aircraft; 1 P-38 is lost (pilot is MIA).
Mission 464: During the night, 5 of 6 B-17s drop leaflets in France.
37 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In France, of 250+B-26s and
A-20s
dispatched, about 60 bomb targets; bad weather prevents others from
bombing;
targets hit are a rail bridge, crossing, overpass and a highway
bridge at
Ablis, Orleans, Vendome, and Montfort-sur-Risle; fighters escort IX
Bomber
Command bombers, provide area cover over the battle area, and bomb
and strafe
gun positions, vehicles, rail cars, bridges, and tanks. In England,
the 125th
Liaison Squadron, Ninth Air Force (attached to HQ Command, ETO),
moves from
Chedworth to Erlestokes with L-5s.
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