4 Feburary 1944

FRIDAY, 4 FEBRUARY 1944

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 208: 589 B-17s and 159
B-24s are dispatched to attack industry and railroad yards at Frankfurt/
Main, Germany; 346 B-17s and 27 B-24s hit the target; due to weather and
navigational problems, 122 B-17s hit Giessen, 51 B-17s hit Wiesbaden, 17
B-24s hit the Trier area, 15 B-24s hit the Arloff area, 2 B-24s hit the
Russelheim area, 1 B-24 hits Grafenhausen, 1 B-24 hits Darmstadt, 1 B-17 and
1 B-24 hit Koblenz and 26 B-24s and 23 B-17s hit unknown targets; they
claim 4-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 18 B-17s and 2 B-24s are lost, 2 B-17s and
1 B-24 are damaged beyond repair and 359 aircraft are damaged; casualties are
7 KIA, 20 WIA and 203 MIA. Escort is provided by 56 P-38s, 537 Eighth and
Ninth Air Force P-47s and 44 Ninth Air Force P-51s; they claim 8-0-4
Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-38 is lost, 1 P-47 is damaged beyond repair and 5
P-38s and 4 P-47s are damaged; casualties are 1 MIA.
Mission 209: 7 of 7 B-17s drop 319 bundles of leaflets on Lorient, Tours,
Nantes, Raismes, Lille and Cambrai, France and Antwerp, Belgium at 2102-2132
hours without loss.

TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): Major General Otto P Weyland becomes
Commanding General, XIX Air Support Command.
HQ 313th Troop Carrier Group transfers from Trapani/Milo Airfield, Sicily
to Folkingham, England.

US STRATEGIC AIR FORCES IN EUROPE: The abbreviation for this unit is
changed from USSAFE to USSTAF.