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SATURDAY, 17 JUNE 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Targets in France,
primarily
airfields, are hit; 2 B-17s are lost; fighters fly 1,027 sorties
during the
day and destroy 15 locomotives, train cars, trucks and other
vehicles.
Mission 418: 232 of 332 bombers attack targets in France:
1. Of 174 B-17s, 52 hit Monchy-Breton Airfield, 31 hit a railroad
bridge
at Noyen, 18 hit Chateaudun Airfield and 18 hit Villiers/L'Eveque
Airfield;
2 B-17s are lost and 22 damaged; 22 airmen are MIA; escort is
provided by
43 P-38s, 39 P-47s and 90 P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe
aircraft; 1
P-51 is lost (pilot is MIA).
2. Of 158 B-24s, 28 hit Laval Airfield, 26 hit Guyancourt/Caudron
Airfield, 18 hit Le Mans/Arnage Airfield, 17 hit Bretigny Airfield,
12 hit
Brunnelles, 9 hit Melun Airfield, 1 hits Dreux, 1 hits St Valery and
1 hits
a target of opportunity; escort is provided by 87 P-47s and 170
P-51s; they
claim 2-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 3-0-0 on the ground;
no losses
or casualties.
99 P-38s fly fighter-bomber missions against railroad bridges at
Corbie
and Peronne; 4 P-38s are lost (pilots are MIA).
Mission 419: Of 312 B-24s dispatched, 80 hit Angers Airfield, 75 hit
Laval Airfield, 55 hit Tours Airfield, 38 hit Essay airstrip, 25 hit
Lonray
airstrip and 1 hits LeMans; 1 B-24 is lost and 35 damaged; 10 airmen
are
MIA. Escort is provided by 122 P-47s and 148 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost
(pilot
is MIA).
49 P-38s and 39 P-47s, escorted by 47 P-38s, make fighter-bomber
attacks
on Corbie-Peronne railroad bridges; 2 P-38s are lost (pilots are
MIA).
Mission 420: 9 of 10 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): Operational control of
air-ground
coordination of fighter-bomber missions moves from HQ Ninth Air
Force and 21
Army Group Combined Control Center (in the UK) to Advanced HQ IX
Tactical Air
Command (in Normandy) operating in close proximity to the US First
Army.
In France, 265 B-26s attack fuel dumps, a bridge and a railway line
S of
the battle area; 1,300+ fighters fly escort and top cover, and
strafe and
bomb troop concentrations, military vehicles, bridges, gun
emplacements,
tanks and other tactical targets; units moving to France from
England with
P-47s: HQ 354th Fighter Group and 353d and 356th Fighter Squadrons
from
Lashenden to Criqueville; HQ 366th Fighter Group and 389th and 391st
Fighter
Squadrons from Thruxton to St Pierre du Mont; HQ 371st Fighter Group
and
405th and 406th Fighter Squadrons from Bisterne to Beuzeville.
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