17 April 1943

SATURDAY, 17 APRIL 1943

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force)
VIII Bomber Command Mission Number 52: 115 B-17's are dispatched against
the Focke-Wulf factory at Bremen, Germany the Eighth Air Force's largest
mission to date. A mass of fighters attacks during bomb run, shooting down
15 while flak claims another. We claim 63-15-17 Luftwaffe aircraft; 39
B-17's are damaged; casualties are 2 KIA, 4 WIA and 159 MIA.
The Commanding General, VIII Fighter Command, expresses the need for 20
fighter groups to neutralize growing German fighter opposition to the
Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO).