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TUESDAY, 9 MAY 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 347: 823 bombers
and 668
fighters are dispatched to hit marshalling yards and airfields in
France,
Belgium and Luxembourg; this is the beginning of the pre-invasion
bombing of
enemy installations; 6 bombers and 7 fighters are lost:
1. Of 220 B-17s, 75 hit St Dizier Airfield, 53 hit Thionville
Airfield and
37 hit Thionville marshalling yard, France and 53 hit Luxembourg
marshalling
yard, Luxembourg; 38 B-17s are damaged.
2. 242 B-17s are dispatched to bomb airfields in France; 113 hit
Laon/Athies, 71 hit Juvincourt, 43 hit Laon/Couvron, 10 hit Lille/Vendeville
and 1 hits Chievres; 2 B-17s are lost and 44 damaged; 1 airman is
KIA, 1 WIA
and 20 MIA.
3. Of 361 B-24s, 101 hit St Trond Airfield, 96 hit Florennes
Airfield, 63
hit Liege marshalling yard and 6 hit Hody Airfield, Belgium and 68
hit
Laon/Couvron Airfield and 10 hit Nivelles Airfield, France; 2 B-24s
are lost,
and 35 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 1 WIA and 44 MIA.
Escort is provided by 144 P-38s, 277 P-47s and 247 P-51s; the P-47s
claim
2-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 1-0-4 on the ground, the
P-51s claim
1-0-0 in the air; 1 P-38 and 6 P-51s are lost; 1 P-38 is damaged
beyond
repair and 1 P-51 is damaged; 6 pilots are MIA.
Mission 348: 3 of 3 B-17s drop 1.34 million leaflets on 4 towns in
The
Netherlands and 3 in Belgium.
13 B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions without loss.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): 367th and 406th Fighter
Groups
become operational, the 17th and 18th operational groups.
40+ B-26s attack marshalling yards, railway batteries, coastal
defense
batteries, bridges, and NOBALL sites in France.
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