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SATURDAY, 20 MAY 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 359: 638 bombers
and 657
fighters are dispatched to hit targets in France and Belgium; 2
bombers and 4
fighters are lost; AAF claims 2-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air
and 1-0-1
on the ground:
1. 190 B-17s are dispatched to bomb Orly Airfield (90 bomb) and
Villacoublay Air Depot (73 bomb) in France; 4 B-17s are damaged
beyond repair
and 48 damaged; 20 airmen are KIA and 6 WIA.
2. 125 of 177 B-24s bomb Reims Airfield and marshalling yard in
France; 5
B-24s are damaged.
3. 271 B-17s and B-24s are dispatched to marshalling yards at Liege
and
Brussels, Belgium but the mission is abandoned due to heavy cloud
cover; 2
bombers are lost, 4 damaged beyond repair and 41 damaged; 17 airmen
are KIA,
16 WIA and 17 MIA.
Escort is provided by 146 P-38s, 177 P-47s and 334 P-51s; P-38s
claim 2-0-1
Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-1 on the ground; 1 P-38, 1
P-47 and 2
P-51s are lost; 5 P-38s are damaged; 4 pilots are MIA.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): Around 450 B-26s attack
airfields,
coastal defenses, and V-weapon site in France; about 250 aborts are
caused
mainly by bad cloud conditions and failure to rendezvous with
fighters. P-47s
dive-bomb targets in NW Europe.
423d Night Fighter Squadron, 10th Photographic Group
(Reconnaissance),
moves from Chormy Down to Chalgrove, England with F-3s and A-20s;
the 423d
will be redesignated 155th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron on
22 Jun.
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