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SUNDAY, 10 SEPTEMBER 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 4 missions are flown.
Mission 619: 1,144 bombers and 570 fighters are dispatched to
targets in
the Stuttgart, Germany area; 7 bombers are lost mostly to flak and 5
fighters
are lost:
1. 388 B-24s are dispatched and hit secondary targets, the
marshalling
yards at Ulm (247) and Heilbronn (100); 2 others bomb targets of
opportunity;
1 B-24 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 65 damaged; 1 airman is
KIA, 2
WIA and 10 MIA. Escort is provided by 153 P-38s and P-51s; 2 P-51s
are lost,
3 damaged beyond repair and 1 P-38 and 3 P-51s damaged; 1 pilot is
KIA and 2
MIA.
2. 385 B-17s are dispatched to hit a tank factory at Nurnberg (173),
Giebelstadt Airfield (112) and an aircraft components plant at Furth
(60); 8
others hit targets of opportunity; 3 B-17s are lost and 147 damaged;
7 airmen
are WIA and 28 MIA. Escort is provided by 221 P-47s and P-51s; they
claim
1-0-0 aircraft in the air and 38-0-44 on the ground; 3 P-51s are
lost and 2
damaged; 3 pilots are MIA.
3. 372 B-17s are dispatched to attack a motor vehicle factory at
Gaggenau
(140), a jet-propulsion units plant at Zuffenhausen (116) and an
engine
factory at Sindelfingen (73); 19 others hit targets of opportunity;
3 B-17s
are lost, 5 damaged beyond repair and 169 damaged; 9 airmen are WIA
and 27
MIA. Escort is provided by 135 of 153 P-51s; they claim 1-1-0
aircraft in the
air and 29-0-1 on the ground without loss.
Mission 620: 1 B-17 flies a mission to trial the GB-4 radio/visual
control
bomb against Duren, Germany
Mission 621: 3 of 3 B-17s fly a radar and photo reconnaissance
mission over
Germany; leaflets are also dropped.
6 of 7 B-17s drop leaflets on France, the Netherlands and Germany
during
the night.
121 of 135 P-47s strafe airfields and ground and rail traffic in a
sweep
over the Cologne, Frankfurt/Main, and Kassel areas; they claim
10-0-21
aircraft on the ground; 8 P-47s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair
and 4
damaged; 8 pilots are MIA.
35 B-24s and C-47s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): Advance HQ, Ninth AF, assigns
rail
lines approaching the Rhine River from the W, N of Karlsruhe, to be
attacked
by IX and XIX Tactical Air Command fighters in the first of a series
of
orders setting up rail interdiction programs to cut lines W and E of
the
Rhine River in Sep and early Oct; changes and additions to targets
appear on
12 and 14 Sep when a list of all lines to be cut is published.
In France, about 340 B-26s and A-20s hit strongpoints and ammunition
stores
in the Foret de Haye, Custines rail bridge, and a road bridge over
the Mosel
River; escorting fighters provide general air cover in the
Metz-Nancy area,
and support US Third Army ground forces in stemming a counterattack
there;
800+ C-47s complete supply and evacuation missions; the southern
invading
forces and those of the Normandy invasion meet; the City of
Luxembourg is
liberated; HQ 70th Fighter Wing moves from Versailles to Marchais;
and the
153d Liaison Squadron, IX Tactical Air Command (attached to First
Army),
moves from St Cyr to Vuel, Belgium with L-5s.
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