28 January 1944

FRIDAY, 28 JANUARY 1944

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 195: 54 B-24's in 2 groups
are dispatched to the Bonnieres V-weapon site in France; 2 Gee-H equipped PFF
aircraft lead each group; due to technical difficulties, the second formation
was ordered to follow the lead and bomb the same target as a secondary; 4
minutes before the target the leader of one section accidentally released and
the following 11 aircraft did likewise; 31 hit the primary; 1 B-24 is
damaged. 122 P-47's provide escort without loss.
Gee-H is more accurate than H2X but is of use only against targets within
the 200-mi (320 km) beacon range; later, aircraft are equipped with both
devices.
Mission 196: During the evening, 5 of 5 B-17's drop 1.36 million leaflets
on Amiens, Rouen, Cambrai, Reims and Caen, France without loss.
Mission 197: During the night, 1 B-17 on an Oboe Mk II test drops 2 tons
of bombs on Emmerich, Germany.
748th, 749th, 750th and 751st Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy), 457th
Bombardment Group (Heavy), arrive at Glatton, England from the US with
B-17's; first mission is 21 Feb.