16 February 1943

TUESDAY, 16 FEBRUARY 1943

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force)
VIII Bomber Command Mission 36: 71 B-17s of the 1st Bombardment Wing and
18 B-24s of the 2d Bombardment Wing are dispatched against the locks and
U-boat base at Saint-Nazaire, France; 59 B-17s and 6 B-24s drop 160 tons of
bombs between 1052 and 1055 hours local. We claim 20 Luftwaffe aircraft
destroyed, 12 probably destroyed and 2 damaged; we lose 6 B-17s and 2 B-24s
with 28 B-17s and 2 B-24s damaged; casualties are 1 KIA, 7 WIA and 81 MIA.
Spitfire Mk Vs of the 4th Fighter Group fly 34 uneventful sorties on
fighter patrols.
The 13th Photographic Squadron (Light), 3d Photographic Group with F-5s
and L-4s transfers from Podington to Mount Farm, England.