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The Mighty Eighth - Saturday, 8 April 1944

 

SATURDAY, 8 APRIL 1944

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 291: 3 separate forces, a
total of 664 bombers divided into 13 combat wings, escorted by 780 fighters,
are dispatched against airfields in NW Germany and aircraft factories in the
Brunswick area; 34 bombers and 23 fighters are lost.
1. 59 of 59 B-17s hit Oldenburg Airfield; 32 B-17s are damaged; casualties
are 5 WIA.
2. 255 B-17s are dispatched to Achmer, Quakenbruck and Rheine Airfields; 83
hit Quakenbruck, 60 hit Achmer, 41 hit Rheine, 22 hit Twente Enschede, 21 hit
Hesepe, 19 hit Handorf and 3 hit targets of opportunity; 4 B-17s are lost and
128 damaged; casualties are 1 KIA, 3 WIA and 40 MIA.
3. 350 B-24s are dispatched to aviation industry targets in Brunswick; 190
hit the primary, 59 hit Rosslingen, 48 hit Langenhagen Airfield and 6 hit
targets of opportunity; they claim 58-9-32 Luftwaffe aircraft; 30 B-24s are
lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 87 damaged; casualties are 8 KIA, 23 WIA
and 300 MIA.
Escort is provided by 136 P-38s, 438 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and
206 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; the fighters claim 88-3-46 Luftwaffe
aircraft in the air and 49-6-38 on the ground: 5 P-38s are lost and 3
damaged, 5 pilots are MIA; 4 P-47s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 12
damaged, 4 pilots are MIA; 14 P-51s are lost and 3 damaged, 14 pilots are MIA.
Mission 292: 5 of 5 B-17s drop 1 million leaflets on Liege, Brussels,
Ghent, Antwerp, and Mont-sur-Sombre, Belgium at 2215-2227 hours without loss.

TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In Belgium, 198 B-26s attack Hasselt
marshalling yard and hit Coxyde Airfield; and 32 P-47s bomb the area around
Hasselt.







 

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