I am continuing my series of articles based on the entries from Kit C. Carter and Robert Mueller’s U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II Combat Chronology 1941 – 1945 and Jack McKillop’s USAAF Chronology: Combat Chronology of the US Army Air Forces. Both combat chronologies are excellent sources of information regarding combat missions in World War II and I thank the authors for sharing them online.
These articles are concentrated on the operations of the 8th Army Air Forces on the missions on which the John Oliver Buslee crew and James Joseph Brodie crew of the 384th Bomb Group participated. The statistics of other dates and missions and of other branches of the American Air Forces and theaters of operation of World War II are available through the links provided in this article to these two sources for those interested.
Today’s installment is the 7 August 1944 mission in which the Brodie crew participated.
WWII Combat Chronology – Monday, 7 August 1944
384th BG Mission 174/8th AF Mission 527 to Dugny (Paris), France.
Target: German Air Force (Luftwaffe), an Aircraft Fuel Depot.
The James Joseph Brodie crew of the 545th Bomb Squadron participated in this mission. The Buslee crew did not participate.
Carter and Mueller’s U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II Combat Chronology 1941 – 1945 entry:
Shuttle mission continues from USSR. In accordance with Soviet request, tgt is oil refinery in Poland. 57 B-17’s and 37 P-51’s are dispatched. 55 HBs (2 return to base early) bomb refinery at Trzebinia. P-51’s engage 6 to 8 enemy ftrs over tgt and claim destruction of 3 of them. The airplanes return to FRANTIC bases in USSR. In UK 902 HBs, supported by 10 ftr gps, are dispatched to bomb oil dumps and bridges in France. Cloud conditions cause multiple aborts, but 483 HBs bomb 11 oil dumps, 5 bridges, 3 A/Fs, and an M/Y. 3 HBs are lost. 8 gps of FBs attack M/Ys and rail transportation N and E of Paris.
Jack McKillop’s USAAF Chronology: Combat Chronology of the US Army Air Forces entry:
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 4 missions are flown:
- Mission 527 to fuel dumps and bridges in France, in which the Brodie crew participated
- Mission 528, a Micro H (radar system which combined the Gee-H and H2X radar functionality for use by pathfinders ) test mission
- Mission 529 to marshalling yards and railroads north and east of Paris
- Unnumbered leaflet mission over France during the night
Also, in the USSR, a shuttle mission is flown in accordance with a Soviet request; 55 B-17s and 29 P-51s attack an oil refinery at Trzebina, Poland without loss; the aircraft return to Operation FRANTIC bases in the USSR.
Mission 527: 905 bombers and 471 fighters are dispatched to hit fuel dumps and bridges in France but heavy cloud cover forces many aircraft to return with bombs and other formations to be recalled; 1 bomber and 5 fighters are lost; targets hit (number in parenthesis indicates bombers bombing) are:
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Of 112 B-17s, 71 hit Montbartier and 34 hit St Loubes; 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 26 are damaged; 2 airmen are WIA. Escort is provided by 123 of 139 P-51s; they claim 1-0-3 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 0-0-1 on the ground.
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The primary targets of 224 B-17s are Nanteuil Bridge (36), Sens (26), St Florentin (25), Dueny (24), Bourron Marlotte (23) and Paris-St Quen (12); other targets hit are Chartres Airfield (23), Maintenon Bridge (23), Houden marshalling yard (14), Chateaudun Airfield (11) and Rouglaf (1); 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 80 damaged. Escort is provided by 96 of 97 P-51s.
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1 of 182 B-17s hits Montdidier Airfield; 35 B-17s are damaged; 1 airman is WIA. Escort is provided by 90 P-38s and P-51s.
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Of 51 B-24s, 10 hit Andenne Bridge, 8 hit Semuse and 8 hit targets of opportunity; 1 B-24 is lost and 19 damaged; 11 airmen are MIA. Escort is provided by 34 of 35 P-47s.
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The primary targets of 333 B-24s are Doullens Bridge (37), Saleux (24), Recques-sur-Course (23), Frevent Bridge (15), Rieme/Ertveld (11) and Langerbrugge (9); 12 also hit a factory near Wendelghem and 1 hits a target of opportunity; 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 45 damaged; 8 airmen are KIA and 1 WIA. Escort is provided by 94 of 100 P-51s.
Links/Sources
- Kit C. Carter and Robert Mueller’s U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II Combat Chronology 1941 – 1945
- Jack McKillop’s Combat Chronology of the US Army Air Forces
Except for entries from Carter and Mueller’s U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II Combat Chronology 1941 – 1945 and McKillop’s Combat Chronology of the US Army Air Forces © Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2021
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