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THURSDAY, 8 JUNE 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 400: 1,178 bombers
and
1,353 fighter sorties are flown on communications in France to
isolate German
forward elements, and airfields are bombed to prevent Luftwaffe
support.
Cloud conditions prevent 400+ bombers from executing attacks.
1. 640 B-17s are dispatched to La Frilliere (66 bomb), Orleans (36
bomb),
Rennes Airfield (30 bomb), Orleans/Les Aubrais marshalling yard (60
bomb),
Nantes (25 bomb), La Huchetiere (31 bomb), Tours/La Riche (61 bomb)
and Cinq
Mars bridge (57 bomb); 18 hit Bruz, 2 hit Rennes and 13 hit targets
of
opportunity; 1 B-17 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 63 damaged;
11
airmen are KIA and 10 MIA.
2. 538 B-24s are dispatched to Pontaubault (67 bomb), Angers/St Laud
(24
bomb), Angers (19 bomb), Le Mans/Arnage Airfield (14 bomb),
Pontaubault (13
bomb), Nantes (42 bomb) and Cinq Mars bridge (55 bomb); 5 hit Dinon,
1 hits
Precey, 1 hits Cinq Mars bridge, 30 hit Grandville Harbor, 19 hit a
bridge at
Rennes, 9 hit Precey and 26 hit targets of opportunity; an attack on
the
Melun bridge by an Azon unit is foiled by clouds; 2 B-24s are lost,
3 damaged
beyond repair and 73 damaged; 17 airmen are KIA, 4 WIA and 20 MIA.
Escort for the bombers is provided by 116 P-51s; they claim 3-0-1
Luftwaffe
aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost and 1 is damaged beyond repair.
Other fighter-bomber missions are:
1. 381 P-38s, 24 P-47s and 89 P-51s fly sweeps and patrols along the
Normandy beachhead and the Channel area; P-47s claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe
aircraft; 3 P-51s are lost; 1 P-38 and 1 P-51 are damaged beyond
repair.
2. 333 P-47s and 526 P-51s fly fighter-bomber missions against
communications in NW France; they claim 27-2-4 Luftwaffe aircraft in
the air
and 21-0-11 on the ground; 6 P-47s and 11 P-51s are lost; 1 P-51 is
damaged
beyond repair.
Overall, the fighters fly 1,405 sorties and attack nearly 75
targets; 1
pilot is KIA and 21 MIA during the day.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): Around 400 B-26s attack rail
and
road bridges and junctions, rail sidings, marshalling yards, town
areas, fuel
storage tanks, ammunition dumps, troop concentration and strong
points in the
Calais, France area. Around 1,300 fighter sorties provide support to
B-26s
and high cover over the assault area, and bomb and strafe bridges,
marshalling yards, gun batteries, rail facilities, vehicles, towns,
and troop
concentrations.
125th Liaison Squadron, Ninth Air Force (attached principally to
Headquarters Command, ETO), arrives at Cheltenham, England from the
US with
L-5s; first mission is in Aug 44.
US STRATEGIC AIR FORCES IN EUROPE (USSTAF): General Carl Spaatz,
Commanding
General, places oil as the first priority target for USSTAF as a
result of
the destructive effect achieved by several missions against oil
centers in
May 44.
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