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TUESDAY, 30 MAY 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO): Loading of assault forces for
Operation
OVERLORD (invasion of Normandy) begins.
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 380: 928 bombers
and 672
fighters in 6 forces are dispatched to hit aircraft industry targets
in
Germany and marshalling yards in France and Belgium; they claim
65-8-6
Luftwaffe aircraft; 12 bombers and 9 fighters are lost:
1. 268 B-17s are dispatched to attack aviation industry targets at
Dessau
(83 bomb), Halberstadt (107 bomb) and Oschersleben (51 bomb); 5
other hit
targets of opportunity; they claim 8-5-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 9 B-17s
are lost
and 81 damaged; 2 airmen are WIA and 86 MIA.
2. 369 B-24s are dispatched to hit aviation depots at Oldenburg (135
bomb),
Rotenburg (147 bomb) and Zwischenahn (71 bomb); 1 other hits a
target of
opportunity; 1 B-24 is lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 36 damaged;
1 airman
is KIA, 2 WIA and 9 MIA.
3. 46 of 91 B-24s hit Munster/Handorf Airfield and 36 others hit
Diepholz
Airfield; 2 B-24s are lost, 1 is damaged beyond repair and 36
damaged; 1
airman is KIA, 6 WIA and 9 MIA.
4. 122 of 126 B-17s hit French marshalling yards; 62 hit Reims and
60 hit
Troyes; 24 B-17s are damaged.
5. 39 of 40 B-17s hit Brussels/Schaerbeck marshalling yard, Belgium;
12
B-17s are damaged.
6. 76 of 84 B-17s hit V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais, France;
12 B-17s
are damaged; 3 airmen are KIA, 2 WIA and 10 MIA.
Escort is provided by 186 P-38s, 184 P-47s and 302 P-51s; 3 P-38s
are
damaged; P-47s claim 2-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft with 1 loss (pilot is
MIA);
P-51s claim 48-3-2 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 7-0-3 on the
ground with
the loss of 8 P-51s (pilots are MIA), 2 damaged beyond repair and 4
damaged;
637 Ninth Air Force fighters support the mission; they claim 8-0-2
aircraft
in the air and 0-0-4 on the ground for the loss of 3.
100 P-47s are dispatched to bomb 4 rail bridges in NW France; 37 hit
Longueil bridge, 26 hit Beaumont-sur-Oise bridge, 23 hit Canly-le-Jouque
bridge and 12 hit the Creil bridge; 1 P-47 is lost (pilot is MIA).
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In France, 320+ B-26s attack
airfields at Denain/Prouvy and Mantes/Limay, and highway bridges at
Meulan
and Rouen. Nearly 400 P-47s dive-bomb targets in NW Europe.
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