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WEDNESDAY, 31 MAY 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 382: 1,029 bombers
and 682
fighters attack marshalling yards and aircraft industry targets in
Germany
and rail targets in France and Belgium; the fighters claim 4-0-1
Luftwaffe
aircraft on the ground; 1 bomber and 3 fighters are lost:
1. Of 246 B-17s, 36 hit Luxeuil marshalling yard, France; 30 hit
Florennes/
Juzaine Airfield and 4 hit Namur marshalling yard, Belgium; 23 hit
Gilze-
Rijen Airfield and 12 hit Roosendaal marshalling yard, The
Netherlands;
and 3 hit targets of opportunity; 45 B-17s are damaged; 1 airman is
KIA and 4
WIA.
2. 287 B-17s are dispatched to hit marshalling yards in Germany; 88
hit
Osnabruck, 54 hit Schwerte, 52 hit Oeske and 50 hit Hamm; 1 B-17 is
lost and
58 damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 10 MIA.
3. 491 B-24s are dispatched to hit rail targets in France and
Belgium but
are recalled due to clouds; 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 7
damaged.
4. 4 of 5 B-24s hit rail bridges at Beaumont-sur-Oise and bridges at
Melun
without loss; Azon radio-controlled bombs are unsuccessfully used
against the
bridges.
Escort is provided by 193 P-38s, 180 P-47s and 309 P-51s; P-38s
claim 1-0-0
Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground with 1 P-38 being damaged; 1 P-47
is lost
(pilot is MIA) and 3 are damaged; P-51s claim 3-0-1 aircraft on the
ground
with 2 P-51s lost (pilots are MIA). 674 Ninth Air Force fighters
provide
support; no claims or losses.
Fighter-bomber missions against German airfields with 500 lb (227
kg) and
100 lb (45 kg) GP bombs:
1. 78 of 81 P-47s hit Gutersloh Airfield; they claim 5-1-3 Luftwaffe
aircraft; 1 P-47 is damaged.
2. 35 P-38s attack Rehein/Hopsten Airfield using DROOPSNOOT methods;
they
claim 5-0-0 aircraft on the ground.
22 B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions over France without
loss.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): About 200 B-26s bomb lock and
highway bridges at Bennecourt, Courcelles-sur-Seine and Rouen,
France.
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