19 March 1944

SUNDAY, 19 MARCH 1944

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 266: V-weapon sites in
France are hit.
1. 117 of 129 B-17s hit sites at Wizernes and Watten; 1 B-17 is lost and 74
damaged; casualties are 1 WIA and 10 MIA.
2. 56 of 64 B-17s hit Marquise/Mimoyecques; 14 B-17s are damaged; 1 crewman
is WIA.
Escort is provided by 82 P-47s; 1 is damaged and the pilot is WIA.
Mission 267: 6 of 6 B-17s drop 300 bundles of leaflets on The Hague,
Rotterdam, Leeuwarden, Utrecht and Amsterdam, The Netherlands at 2114-2140
hours without loss.
Mission 268: 35 P-47s [25 with 500-pound (227 kg) bombs] are dispatched to
Gilze-Rijen Airfield, The Netherlands; 20 of the 25 bomb without loss; 39
P-51s fly a supporting sweep.

TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In France, 152 B-26s and 65 A-20s
attack NOBALL (V-weapon) targets in the Saint-Omer area during morning and
afternoon missions; 16 P-47s dive-bomb the airfield between Boulogne-sur-Mer
and Le Touquet; the morning raids precede an Eighth Air Force attack with
B-17s on V-weapon sites.