21 Feburary 1944
MONDAY, 21 FEBRUARY 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force):
Mission 228: "Big Week" continues
with 3 areas in Germany targetted with the loss of 16 bombers
and 5 fighters:
1. 336 B-17s are dispatched to the Gutersioh, Lippstadt and Werl
Airfields;
because of thick overcast, 285 hit Achmer, Hopsten, Rheine,
Diepholz,
Quakenbruck and Bramsche Airfields and the marshalling yards at
Coevorden and
Lingen; they claim 12-5-8 Luftwaffe aircraft; 8 B-17s are lost,
3 damaged
beyond repair and 63 damaged; casualties are 4 KIA, 13 WIA and
75 MIA.
2. 281 B-17s are dispatched to Diepholz Airfield and Brunswick;
175 hit the
primaries and 88 hit Alhorn and Verden Airfields and Hannover;
they claim
2-5-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 B-17s are lost, 3 damaged beyond
repair and 36
damaged; casualties are 20 KIA, 4 WIA and 57 MIA.
3. 244 B-24s are dispatched to Achmer and Handorf Airfields; 11
hit Achmer
Airfield and 203 hit Diepholz, Verden and Hesepe Airfields and
Lingen; they
claim 5-6-4 Luftwaffe aircraft; 3 B-24s are lost, 1 damaged
beyond repair and
6 damaged; casualties are 3 WIA and 31 MIA.
Escort for Mission 228 is provided by 69 P-38s, 542 Eighth and
Ninth Air
Force P-47s and 68 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; the P-38s
claim 0-1-0
Luftwaffe aircraft, 1 P-38 is damaged beyond repair; the P-47s
claim 19-3-14
Luftwaffe aircraft, 2 P-47s are lost, 2 are damaged beyond
repair, 3 are
damaged and 2 pilots are MIA; the P-51s claim 14-1-4 Luftwaffe
aircraft, 3
P-51s are lost and the pilots are MIA.
Mission 229: 5 of 5 B-17s drop 250
bundles of leaflets on Rouen, Caen,
Paris and Amiens, France at 2215-2327 hours without loss.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): 18 B-26s bomb Coxyde
Airfield,
Belgium; weather causes almost 190 aborts. The Ninth Air Force's
Pathfinder
Squadron (provisionally activated on 13 Feb) takes part in this
operation,
its first venture into combat. 185 aircraft scheduled to attack
other
airfields in the Netherlands and France in the afternoon are
recalled because
of bad weather.
Arrivals in England from the US: HQ 10th Photographic Group
(Reconnaissance)
at Chalgrove; HQ 439th Troop Carrier Group and 91st and 92d
Troop Carrier
Squadrons at Balderton with C-47s.
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