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MONDAY, 1 MAY 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 332: Operation
CROSSBOW
(operations against German missile launching sites) targets are hit
in
France in the early morning; 531 bombers and 209 fighters are
dispatched
but weather causes many aborts and only 3 of 23 V-weapons sites
targetted
are bombed:
1. Of 161 B-17s dispatched,m 18 hit Poix Airfield, 18 hit Roye/Amy
Airfield and 15 hit Montdidier Airfield; 1 B-17 is damaged beyond
repair
and 20 damaged.
2. 22 of 187 B-17s and 57 of 183 B-24s hit the Pas de Calais area; 1
B-17
and 1 B-24 are damaged beyond repair; 19 B-17s and 15 B-24s are
damaged; 5
B-24 crewmen are KIA.
Escort is provided by 119 P-47s and 90 P-51s without loss or claims.
Mission 333: In the afternoon, 386 bombers and 558 fighters are
dispatched to hit marshalling yards in France and Belgium; 3 bombers
and 3
fighters are lost:
1. 110 B-17s are dispatched to Troyes (52 bomb) and Reims (57 bomb),
France; 1 B-17 is lost and 52 damaged; 10 airmen are MIA.
2. 125 B-17s are dispatched to Saarguemines (64 bomb) and Metz (42
bomb),
France and Brussels, Belgium (13 bomb); 2 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged
beyond
repair and 43 damaged; 20 airmen are MIA.
3. 151 B-24s are dispatched to Brussels (59 bomb) and Liege (40
bomb),
Belgium; 21 B-24s are damaged; no losses or casualties.
Escort is provided by 120 P-38s, 272 P-47s and 166 P-51s; The P-47s
claim
1-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft and the P-51s claim 5-0-2; 2 P-38s and 1
P-51 are
lost; 4 P-47s and 1 P-51 are damaged; 4 pilots are MIA.
Mission 334: 5 of 5 B-17s drop 1.55 million leaflets on 25 towns in
France and The Netherlands without loss.
25 B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER operations without loss.
HQ 489th Bombardment Group (Heavy) arrives at Halesworth, England
from
the US.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): The last of the 11
bombardment
groups (8 medium and 3 light) of the IX Bomber Command becomes
operational.
450 B-26s and A-20s attack numerous marshalling yards and industrial
targets in France and Belgium.
406th Fighter Squadron, 371st Fighter Group, ceases operating from
Ibsley,
England and returns to base at Bisterne with P-47s.
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