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SATURDAY, 24 JUNE 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 438: During the
morning
967 bombers are dispatched to hit targets in Germany and France: 5
bombers
are lost:
1. Of 340 B-17s, 213 hit oil industry targets in Bremen, 53 hit an
aircraft
factory at Westermunde and 40 attack Bremen; 1 B-17 is lost and 105
damaged;
2 airmen are WIA and 9 MIA. Escort is provided by 6 fighter groups
(185 P-38s
and 85 P-47s); 1 group strafes an airfield and rail transport in the
Munster
and Hamm areas and claims 2-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; no
losses.
2. 407 B-24s are dispatched to France; 78 hit Conches Airfield, 45
hit
Chateaudun Airfield, 45 hit Orleans/Bricy Airfield, 34 hit Toussus/Le
Noble,
31 hit a fighter strip, 12 hit Pont Audmer, 11 hit Toussus/Paris and
9 hit
Dreux Airfield; 2 B-24s are lost and 81 damaged; 20 airmen are MIA.
Escort is
provided by 45 P-38s and 36 P-47s; 1 P-38 is lost (pilot is MIA);
the
fighters later fly strafing missions.
3. 86 B-17s and 60 B-24s are dispatched to hit 12 CROSSBOW
(V-weapon) sites
in the Pas de Calais area but are prevented by overcast from bombing
the
sites, but 11 B-17s fly S and release bombs near the industrial area
of
Rouen; 1 B-17 is lost to AA fire; 13 B-17s and 1 B-24 are damaged; 9
airmen
are MIA. Escort is provided by 35 of 36 P-47s without loss.
4. Of 74 B-17s dispatched to the Saumur bridge, 38 hit the primary
and 36
hit Tours/La Riche Airfield without loss; escort is provided by 121
of 135
P-51s who claim 4-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground.
Mission 439: During the afternoon 62 B-17s and 167 B-24s are
dispatched to
targets in France; 2 B-24s are lost; escort for the mission is
provided by 71
P-47s and 50 P-51s without loss; 25 other P-51s fly a sweep of the
Angers/Le
Mans area and claim 25-0-6 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground:
1. Of 62 B-17s, 32 hit V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais area, 12
hit
Holque electrical stations and 12 hit Saint-Pol-sur-Mer marshalling
yards; 17
B-17s are damaged.
2. Of 167 B-24s, 67 hit V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais area, 14
hit
the Abbeville power station, 12 hit Pont-a-Vendin and 12 hit the
Tingry
electrical station; 2 B-24s are lost, 1 is damaged beyond repair and
44
damaged; 20 airmen are MIA.
Mission 440: 5 of 5 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): 430+ B-26s and A-20s attack
targets
in France, including 4 gun positions, 3 V-weapon sites, 3 fuel
dumps, 2
marshalling yards, and a railroad bridge; 200+ transports fly
supplies to the
Continent; 11 fighter groups provide escort, attack fuel dumps, rail
targets
and bridges W of Paris and S of the Loire, and fly armed
reconnaissance S of
the Cherbourg Peninsula and SW of Paris; and 313th Fighter Squadron,
50th
Fighter Group, moves from Lymington, England to Carentan with P-47s.
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