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WEDNESDAY, 27 SEPTEMBER 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 650: 1,192 bombers
and
678 fighters are dispatched to hit industrial and transportation
targets in
W Germany and use PFF methods for all targets; 28 bombers and 2
fighters
are lost:
1. 421 of 462 B-17s hit a secondary target (Cologne) and 10 others
hit
Blatzheim; 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 165 damaged; 3 airmen
are KIA;
7 WIA and 1 MIA. Escort is provided by 221 P-47s and P-51s; they
claim 5-0-0
aircraft in the air; 3 P-47s are damaged.
2. 415 B-17s are dispatched to hit Ludwigshafen/Opau oil refinery
(214) and
Mainz (171); 4 others hit targets of opportunity; 2 B-17s are lost
and 142
damaged; 3 airmen are KIA, 9 WIA and 19 MIA. Escort is provided by
212 P-47s
and P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft in the air; 1 P-47 is damaged.
3. 315 B-24s are dispatched to hit Kassel/Henschel aircraft plant
(248); 35
also hit Gottingen; they claim 5-3-0 aircraft; 26 B-24s are lost, 6
damaged
beyond repair and 41 damaged; 20 airmen are KIA, 2 WIA and 245 MIA.
Escort is
provided by 207 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; they claim 25-0-6 aircraft
in the air
and 5-0-1 on the ground; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA), 1 P-51
damaged beyond
repair, and 2 P-38s and 2 P-47s damaged.
Mission 651: 8 of 10 B-17s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands
and
Germany during the night.
163 B-24s on a TRUCKIN' mission carry fuel to France.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): Fighters fly armed
reconnaissance,
cover US First and Third Army forces in W Germany and E France and
later fly
night patrols in Belgium, Luxembourg, and W German areas. In France,
nearly
300 B-26s and A-20s abort missions due to weather; 8 manage to bomb
a target
at Foret de Parroy. In Belgium, the 401st Fighter Squadron, 370th
Fighter
Group, moves from Roye/Amy, France to Florennes/Juxaine with P-38s.
In
France, the 586th Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 394th Bombardment
Group
(Medium), moves from Tour-en-Bassin to Bricy with B-26s; the 644th
Bombardment Squadron (Light), 410th Bombardment Group (Light), moves
from
Gosfield, England to Coulommiers with A-20s.
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