The Mighty Eighth Air Force
 plane
31 July 1944
MONDAY, 31 JULY 1944

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 507: 1,295 bombers and
701 fighters are dispatched to hit targets in Germany and airfields in
France; 16 bombers and 3 fighters are lost:
1. Of 705 B-17s, 567 bomb Munich, 43 hit Schleissheim Airfield, 36 hit
aircraft engine plants at Munich-Allach and 4 hit targets of opportunity; 10
B-17s are lost and 331 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 6 WIA and 82 MIA. Escort is
provided by 439 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 0-1-0 Luftwaffe aircraft in the
air and 18-0-12 on the ground; 1 P-47 and 2 P-51s are lost (pilots are MIA)
and 5 P-47s and 3 P-51s are damaged.
2. 447 of 486 B-24s bomb the chemical works and city at Ludwigshafen, and
SW part of the city of Mannheim; 6 B-24s are lost and 186 damaged; 1 airman
is KIA, 7 WIA and 62 MIA. Escort is provided by 135 P-38s; 1 is damaged.
3. Of 104 B-24s, 47 hit Laon/Athies Airfield, 36 hit Creil Airfield and 1
hits Poix Airfield; 4 B-24s are damaged. Escort is provided by 38 P-47s and
P-51s; 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair (pilot is KIA) and 2 damaged.
13 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions.

TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In France, around 500 A-20s and
B-26s attack bridges on the Seine, Loire, Mayenne, and Ruisseau la Forge
Rivers and a fuel dump at Foret de la Guerche; fighters fly armed
reconnaissance of activities in the Dieppe-Rouen areas, escort bombers,
provide armored column cover, dive-bomb military targets in support of the US
First Army and fly a few night intruder missions over enemy territory; HQ
303d Fighter Wing moves from Ashford, England to La Combe; the 392d Fighter
Squadron, 367th Fighter Group, moves from Ibsley, England to Carentan with
P-38s; and the 401st, 402d and 485th Fighter Squadrons, 370th Fighter Group,
arrive at Cardonville from Andover, England with P-38s