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The Mighty Eighth - Thursday, 17 August 1944

 

THURSDAY, 17 AUGUST 1944

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Three missions are flown:
1. Mission 558: 10 B-24s are dispatched to drop Azon missiles on the Les
Foulous, France rail bridge but the mission is abandoned due to
deteriorating weather.
2. Mission 559: 1 B-17 drop a BATTY TV bomb on the port area at La Pallice,
France.
3. Mission 560: 7 of 7 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.
Fighter-bomber missions flown by the VIII Fighter Command:
1. 397 P-38s and P-47s hit the Paris/Brussels area; they claim 3-0-3
aircraft; 1 P-47 is damaged.
2. 318 P-51s are dispatched to hit communications targets; 7 P-51s are
lost (pilots are MIA) and 4 are damaged; 1 pilot is WIA.
33 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.

TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In France, 400+ A-20s and B-26s bomb
road bridges at Montfort-sur-Risle, Pont-Audemer, Nassandres, Beaumont-le-
Roger, Le Bourg, Brionne, and Beaumontel, and a rail bridge at La Ferriere-
sur-Risle; fighters fly ground force cover over Saint-Malo and Dreux and
armed reconnaissance in NW France; IX Tactical Air Command fighters attack
and severely damage Gestapo HQ near Chateauroux; and HQ 406th Fighter Group
and 512th, 513th and 514th Fighter Squadrons move from Tour-en-Bassin to
Cretteville with P-47s.


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