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THURSDAY, 22 JUNE 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Because of the attack on
B-17s at
Poltava, USSR, on yesterday's shuttle mission, the B-17s at Mirgorod
and
P-51s at Piryatin are moved farther E; they are to be returned to
Mirgorod
and Piryatin to be dispatched to bases in Italy as soon as the
weather
permits; the move is fortunate as German bombers strike both
Piryatin and
Mirgorod during the night of 22/23 Jun.
Mission 431: In a morning mission 85 of 108 B-17s and 132 of 194
B-24s
attack 12 CROSSBOW (V-weapon) installations in the Pas de Calais
area; 1
B-17s is lost; 64 B-17s and 59 B-24s are damaged; 10 airmen are MIA.
Escort
is provided by 165 P-47s and 97 P-51s; some of the support fighters
strafe
coastal defenses; 1 P-51 is lost and 2 P-47s are damaged beyond
repair; 1
pilot is KIA and 1 MIA.
Mission 432: During the afternoon 797 bombers are dispatched to
attack 22
targets in France and Belgium; 9 bombers are lost:
1. Of 319 B-17s dispatched, 76 hit Lille/Fimes marshalling yard, 69
hit
Ghent/Maritime marshalling yard, 35 hit Rouen oil depot, 13 hit La
Vaubaliers, 13 hit Furnes Airfield, 13 hit Tingry, 12 hit Abbeville,
12 hit a
tank area N of Rouen, 12 hit Douai railroad, 11 hit Mazingarbe, 10
hit Pont a
Vendin, 1 hits Douai railroad; 3 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond
repair and
81 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 5 WIA and 29 MIA. Escort is provided
by 108
P-47s; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft.
2. Of 149 B-24s, 46 hit Guyancourt/Caudron Airfield, 43 hit St Cyr
Airfield, 36 hit Buc Airfield, 13 hit targets of opportunity and 5
hit
Tours/La Riche bridge; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 67 B-24s
are
damaged; 1 airmen is KIA and 3 MIA. Escort is provided by 187 of 200
P-38s
and 36 of 46 P-47s; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 P-38s are
lost
(pilots are MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair.
3. Of 216 B-17s, 70 hit Nucourt V-weapon site, 38 hit
Brie-Comte-Robert
Sug, 33 hit Etampes Airfield, 11 hit Lieusant railroad, 11 hit Melun
bridge
and 11 hit Melun marshalling yard; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe
aircraft; 4
B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 187 damaged; 2 airmen
are KIA and
30 MIA. Of 113 B-24s, 101 hit an oil dump at Paris and 1 hits Dreux
Airfield;
2 B-24s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 37 damaged; 1 airman
is KIA, 2
WIA and 23 MIA. Escort is provided by 78 of 86 P-51s; 3 P-51s are
lost
(pilots are MIA).
4. 9 of 10 B-24s use Azon glide bombs against the Samur Bridge;
escort is
provided by 41 of 43 P-51s.
Mission 433: 1 B-17 flies a daylight leaflet mission to La Glacrie,
France.
Mission 434: 9 of 9 B-17s drop leaflets in France and the Low
Countries
during the night.
10 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions in France during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In France, around 600 B-26s
and
A-20s and 1,200+ fighters fly missions during the day; the main
effort
consists of an attack on the tip of the Cherbourg Peninsula in
support of the
US VII Corps assault on the port of Cherbourg; beginning 1 hour
before the
ground attack and continuing until the attack begins fighters and
fighter-
bombers pound the whole area S of the city from low level; as the
ground
assault begins, B-26s and A-20s strike a series of strongpoints
selected by
the US First Army, forming a 55-minute aerial barrage moving N in
advance of
ground forces; later in the day B-26s attack marshalling yards, fuel
dumps
and a German HQ; fighter-bombers fly armed reconnaissance over
various
railroads and bomb rail facilities, trains, road traffic and gun
emplacements; 25 fighter-bombers are lost during the day's
operations.
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