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MONDAY, 12 JUNE 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 407: With bad
weather over
top priority targets in Germany, 1,442 bombers are dispatched
against
airfields and landing grounds in NE France and rail and road bridges
on the
Brest Peninsula; 691 of 769 B-17s and 586 of 673 B-24s hit 16
airfields and
6 railroad bridges in the Rennes and St Nazaire area; they claim
1-1-0
Luftwaffe aircraft; 6 B-17s and 2 B-24s are lost; 1 B-17 and 2 B-24s
are
damaged beyond repair; and 188 B-17s and 52 B-24s are damaged; 7
airmen are
KIA, 14 WIA and 58 MIA.
988 fighter sorties are flown with the loss of 16 aircraft; 15
pilots are
MIA:
1. 234 P-38s, 80 P-47s and 201 P-51s fly escort, sweeps and patrols
over
the Channel NW of Paris and in the Rennes area; they claim 20-0-8
Luftwaffe
aircraft in the air and 1-0-0 on the ground; 3 P-38s, 1 P-47 and 3
P-51s
are lost; 1 P-38 is damaged beyond repair.
2. 93 P-38s and 183 P-47s fly fighter-bomber missions against 5
railroad
bridges in the Tours-Paris area; they claim 5-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft
in the
air and 1-0-0 on the ground; 1 P-38 and 8 P-47s are lost; 1 each is
damaged
beyond repair.
3. 45 P-38s and 152 P-51s fly escort for Ninth Air Force A-20s and
B-26s.
Mission 408: 7 of 7 B-17s drop leaflets on France and Belgium during
the
night without loss.
16 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In France, 509 B-26s and
A-20s bomb
marshalling yards, road and rail junctions, bridges, artillery, town
areas,
troop concentrations and various targets of opportunity; aircraft of
15+
fighter groups fly close and area support for bombers and bomb and
strafe
rail lines, gun batteries, bridges, fortifications, radar
installation,
tanks, ammunition dumps, town areas and strongpoints in the battle
area. In
England, HQ 366th Fighter Group begins a movement from Thruxton to
France; HQ
442d Troop Carrier Group and 303d and 304th Troop Carrier Squadrons
move from
Fulbeck to Weston Zoyland with C-47s; and 425th Night Fighter
Squadron, IX
Air Defense Command, moves from Chormy Down to Scorton with P-61s.
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