The Mighty Eighth Air Force
 plane
12 July 1944
WEDNESDAY, 12 JULY 1944

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 468: 131 B-24s, escorted
by by 144 Royal Air Force (RAF) Spitfires, are dispatched to bomb 10 CROSSBOW
(V-weapon) sites in the Rouen area but abort because of a thick blanket of
low cloud over the target area; no losses.
Mission 469: 1,271 bombers and 803 fighters are dispatched to bomb Munich,
Germany; 1,124 bombers bomb the city of Munich, 16 hit Enstingen and 10 hit
targets of opportunity; 24 bombers are lost, 4 are damaged beyond repair and
297 are damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 7 WIA and 216 MIA. Escort is provided by
717 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; 1 P-38 is damaged beyond repair (pilot is WIA).
Mission 470: During the night, 6 of 6 B-17s drop leaflets in France.

TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In France, 300+ A-20s and B-26s fly
morning and afternoon missions against fuel dumps at Foret d'Andaine and
Foret d'Ecouves, military concentrations at Foret de Cinglais, rail bridges
at Merey, Cinq Mars-la-Pile, Saumur, Nantes, and Nogent-le-Roi, and other
rail and road targets; fighters furnish escort, cover the battle area, and
fly armed reconnaissance over wide areas, attacking rail lines S and W of
Rambouillet, bridges and fuel dump in the Nantes vicinity, trains and
military transport at Vitry-le-Francois, and grounded aircraft S of
Chateaubriant, bridges at Craon, Le Mans, Pontorson, Mayenne, S of Rennes, N
of Angers, and Tours, rail traffic S of Fougeres, and infantry and artillery
positions near Periers.