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FRIDAY, 8 SEPTEMBER 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
ETO: The first V-2 fired in combat explodes in a Paris suburb; the
second
strikes a London suburb a few hours later.
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force):
Mission 611: 1,070 bombers and 349
fighters are dispatched to hit industrial targets in the Mainz and
Ludwigshafen, Germany area; attacks were visual at the primary
targets; 10
bombers are lost:
1. 348 of 384 B-17s attack the Ludwigshafen/Opau oil refinery; 5
B-17s are
lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 185 damaged; 11 airmen are KIA, 15
WIA and
45 MIA. Escort is provided by 88 of 95 P-51s without loss.
2. 247 of 300 B-24s hit Karlsruhe marshalling yard; 1 hits a
secondary
target at Ludwigshafen; 4 B-24s are lost and 92 damaged; 7 airmen
are KIA, 9
WIA and 29 MIA. Escort is provided by 82 of 93 P-51s; 1 P-51 is
damaged
beyond repair.
3. 386 B-17s are dispatched to hit an armored vehicle factory at
Gustavsburg (167) and oil depot at Kassel (166); 23 others hit
targets of
opportunity; 1 B-17 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 132
damaged; 3
airmen are WIA and 9 MIA. Escort is provided by 144 of 161 P-51s
without
loss.
Mission 615: 7 of 8 B-17s drop leaflets
in the Low Countries, France and
Germany during the night.
VIII Fighter Command fighter missions:
1. 160 P-38s strafe and bomb rail transportation E of the Rhine
River; they
claim 7-0-1 aircraft on the ground.
2. 194 P-47s and P-51s strafe targets in the
Heidelberg-Darmstadt-Wurzburg
and Frankfurt/Main-Koblenz areas; 1 P-47 and 1 P-51 are lost and 9
P-47s and
4 P-51s are damaged; 1 pilot is WIA and 2 MIA.
A C-47 flies a CARPETBAGGER mission in France.
110 B-24s fly TRUCKIN' mission to Orleans/Bricy Airfield, France.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In France, weather prevents
bomber
missions; fighters fly cover for troops in the Brest area and for
the US 2d,
5th, 8th, and 29th Infantry Divisions, and the XX Corps area, escort
troop
movements and fly defensive patrols; several hundred C-47s fly
supply and
evacuation missions; HQ IX Air Defense Command moves from Rennes to
Versailles; HQ 366th Fighter Group and the 390th Fighter Squadron
move from
Dreux/Vermouillet to Laon/Couvron with P-47s; HQ 367th Fighter Group
moves
from Peray to Clastres; HQ 439th Troop Carrier Group and the 91st,
92d, 93d
and 94th Troop Carrier Squadrons move from Upottery, England to
Juvincourt
with C-47s; HQ 441st Troop Carrier Group and the 99th, 100th, 301st
and 302d
Troop Carrier Squadrons move from Merryfield, England to Villeneuve/Vetrus
with C-47s.
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