U S Army Air Force/8th Air Force/2nd Air Division/14th Bomb Wing/492nd Bomb Group (Heavy)
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Back to Mission 7 Mission 8 Wednesday, 24 May 44 Melun Forward to Mission 9
Mission 8
While the B-17s were ordered to resume the air strikes into Germany, the 2nd Air Division, the B-24s, continued the attacks on airfields in France. The 492nd was assigned to bomb an airfield near Melun.
The 492nd dispatched 36 of its planes but 2 of them had to abort. Another pair weren't able to bomb their target but were given sortie credit.
Fighter Protection
In terms of numbers the fighter protection was excellent. It's hard to say if their presence kept the Luftwaffe away or if there were any Luftwaffe left stationed in the area.
Enemy Resistance
For the third mission in a row the Luftwaffe was absent. The only threats made were by anti-aircraft batteries. The assigned bombing route taken by the Group was fairly light of flak guns.
Bombsight
Since there was no resistance to speak of, bombing the target was easy.
Returning Home
Light flak was found on the way back. Although there wasn't any severe damages, the planes still got their usual supply of new holes. The Group returned intact without any loss of aircraft or casualties.
Epilogue
The only casualty for the day came after the Group had landed. Lt Kuntz fell off his wing while inspecting his plane's flak damage. His injury wasn't serious but it did ground him from combat duty until after the Group was disbanded.
When any group had an easy day, they could easily assume all of the other groups did too. There probably wasn't one person at North Pickenham who knew that 33 B-17s had been lost that day.
Mission Data
Mission: 8
Date: 24 May 44
City: Melun, France
Target: Airfield
Aircraft
DIS:
36
Abort:
2
ATT:
32
RTB:
34
Lost:
0
PFF:
0
Bomb Load
Tons: 96
Type: GP
Result: Good
Enemy Action
Flak: Moderate
GAF: 0
Counter Action
Kills: 0
492nd Casualties
KIA:
0
WIA:
0
POW:
0
INT:
0
More Info
for Mission 8
This mission's impact
on the overall war
Prytulak Crew 907
O'Sullivan Crew 713
Graham/Powers Crew 614
Prytulak Crew 907
Kuntz Crew 616
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