30 January 1944

SUNDAY, 30 JANUARY 1944

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 200: 623 B-17's and 154
B-24's are dispatched to hit aviation industry plants in Brunswick, Germany
but cloud cover prevents visual bombing; 597 B-17's hit the secondary target,
the city of Brunswick and 2 others hit targets of opportunity; the B-24's
find dense smoke and contrails over the secondary and 104 bomb Hannover and
39 hit other targets of opportunity; the bombers claim 51-7-27 Luftwaffe
aircraft; 18 B-17's and 2 B-24's are lost, 3 B-17's are damaged beyond repair
and 104 B-17's and 11 B-24's are damaged; casualties are 4 KIA, 14 WIA and
206 MIA. Escort includes 635 P-38's, P-47's and Ninth Air Force P-51's; they
claim 45-15-31 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 P-38's and 2 P-47's are lost, 2 P-38's,
3 P-47's and 2 P-51's are damaged; casualties are 1 WIA and 4 MIA.
Mission 201: During the evening, 5 of 5 B-17's drop 1.2 million leaflets
on Chateauroux, Brest, Chartres, Le Mans and Caen, France without loss.
Mission 202: In a night Oboe Mk II test, 1 B-17 drops 2 bombs on Duren,
Germany.