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FRIDAY, 1 SEPTEMBER 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 3 missions are flown.
1. Mission 595: 679 B-17s and 294 B-24s are dispatched to hit
Ludwigshafen,
Haguenan, Gustavsburg, Mainz and Hallach, Germany and Foret de
Haguenan,
France; high clouds are encountered over France and the mission is
recalled;
1 B-17 bombs Hallach; 2 B-17s and 1 B-24 are damaged beyond repair
and 5
B-17s are damaged; 30 airmen are KIA and 2 WIA. Escort is provided
by 508
P-38s and P-51s; 3 P-51s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 1
damaged; 2
pilots are MIA.
2. Mission 597: 12 of 12 Azon-equipped B-24s hit the Ravenstein rail
bridge, the Netherlands without loss. Escort is provided by 15 of 15
P-51s.
3. Mission 599: 3 of 3 B-17s fly a Micro H mission to attack a fuel
dump in
the Bois del la Haussiere, Belgium without loss. Escort is provided
by 2 of 2
P-51s.
VIII Fighter Command fighter-bomber missions:
1. 265 of 273 P-47s attack railroads in N and NE France; they claim
5-0-2
aircraft on the ground; 3 P-47s are lost (pilots are MIA), 1 damaged
beyond
repair and 28 damaged.
2. 33 of 33 attack targets in the Brussels, Belgium area without
loss.
31 of 44 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): HQ IX Troop Carrier Command
comes
under administrative control of HQ US Strategic Air Forces in Europe
(USSTAF)
and under operational control of HQ First Allied Airborne Army, to
increase
efficiency, especially for planning, training, and preparation of
airborne
operations. Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF)
now can
deal directly with all elements of an airborne force through a
single unified
command instead of through various army groups and air forces [i.e.
12th and
21st Army Groups, Ninth AF, and Royal Air Force (RAF) components].
In France, B-26s attack fortifications in the Brest area which
artillery
fire had been unable to reduce; escorting fighters fly sweeps and
armed
reconnaissance in N and E France, and fly cover for 6 divisions in
the
Amiens, Saint-Quentin, Cambrai, Reims, and Verdun areas and the
Brussels,
Belgium area; the 125th Liaison Squadron, Ninth Air Force (attached
to Ninth
Army) moves from Erlestokes, England to St Sauveur-Lendelin with
L-5s; the
425th Night Fighter Squadron, IX Air Defense Command, moves from
Vannes to Le
Moustoiris with P-61s; and the 556th, 557th, 558th and 559th
Bombardment
Squadrons (Medium), 387th Bombardment Group (Medium), move from
Stony Cross,
England to Maupertuis with B-26s.
During Sep, HQ IX Fighter Command moves from Canisy, France to
Charleroi,
Belgium.
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