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D-Day was a day closer. The Allies used the day's bad weather as a day to sell the Calais deception plan. The 8th Air Force was given targets designed to hinder German logistics that supplied their defense at Calais.
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The 492nd was ordered to hit a railroad marshalling yard at Brussels. They dispatched 27 planes and crews under the command of Captain Byrne flying with the Konstand Crew 711. During assembly 2 of the ships had to abort.
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With borrowed fighters from the 9th Air Force, the 8th Air Force had plenty of protection to go around.
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No enemy fighters were encountered for two reasons. First, there wasn't a Luftwaffe left to defend Belgium. And secondly, the weather was so bad that they wouldn't have sent up fighters even if they had been there. As far as flak, we haven't read anything to say if the Group saw any as they entered Belgium.
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The Group never got to the target. After crossing the channel into Belgium airspace, the 2nd Air Division recalled its B-24s back to England. It was determined that the visibilty was too poor for the bombardiers. To continue would needlessly put Belgian citizens at risk.
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Because the Group had entered enemy territory, the aborted mission was credited. The crews that went enjoyed getting a free mission.
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Aborting the mission was a good call. Since the main objective was to reinforce the German notion that the Allied invasion would be at Calais, it didn't really matter if bombs were dropped or not. The mere fact that the B-24s had entered Belgium territory signaled to the German command that their intended target was to help prepare for a Calais invasion. So the crews weren't the only ones who got a free mission.
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