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TUESDAY, 5 SEPTEMBER 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 3 missions are flown:
Mission 605: 739 bombers and 315
fighters are dispatched to SE Germany; 6
bombers are lost; during the missions, a P-51 shoots down a Swiss Bf
109 near
Dubendorf.
1. 203 of 218 B-17s attack a Stuttgart aero engine plant and targets
of
opportunity (4); 2 B-17s are lost and 109 damaged; 1 airman is KIA,
5 WIA and
18 MIA. Escort is provided by 147 of 160 P-51s; they claim 19-0-0
aircraft in
the air and 14-0-27 on the ground; 2 P-51s are lost, 1 damaged
beyond repair
and 4 damaged; 2 pilots are MIA.
2. 277 of 303 B-17s hit a Ludwigshafen synthetic oil plant and
target of
opportunity (1); 2 B-17s are lost and 163 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA,
11 WIA
and 18 MIA. Escort is provided by 155 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot
MIA) and 2
damaged.
3. 183 of 218 B-24s hit Karlsruhe marshalling yard and targets of
opportunity (2); 2 B-24s are lost, 4 damaged beyond repair and 78
damaged; 22
airmen are MIA.
Mission 606: 143 of 143 B-17s make a
visual attack on enemy positions in
the Brest, France area; 2 B-17s are lost and 1 damaged; 18 airmen
are MIA.
Escort is provided by 21 of 22 P-51s without loss.
Mission 608: 7 of 8 B-17s drop leaflets
in Belgium, the Netherlands and
Germany during the night.
46 B-24s and 2 C-47s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night; 1
B-24 is
lost.
VIII Fighter Command fighter-bomber missions:
1. 48 P-38s and 167 P-47s attack transportation targets in W Germany
and
claim 0-0-2 aircraft in the air and 62-0-30 on the ground; 4 P-47s
are lost
(pilots MIA), 2 damaged beyond repair and 10 damaged.
2. 67 P-38s and P-47s attack 3 airfields in the Hanau/Giessen,
Germany
area and claim 2-0-0 aircraft in the air and 66-0-28 on the ground;
1 P-38
and 3 P-47s are lost (pilots are MIA), 1 P-47 damaged beyond repair
and 1
P-38 and 3 P-47s damaged.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In France, 300+ B-26s and
A-20s bomb
strongpoints in the Brest area and a coastal battery at Pointe du
Grand
Gouin, fighters hit gun positions and other military targets in the
Brest
area and fly cover for 6 armored and infantry divisions; the 10th
and 81st
Fighter Squadrons, 50th Fighter Group, move from Meautis to Orly
with P-47s;
the 22d Fighter Squadron, 36th Fighter Group, moves from Brucheville
to Le
Mans with P-47s; and the 394th Fighter Squadron, 367th Fighter
Group, moves
from Cricqueville to Peray with P-38s.
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