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Back to Mission 20 Mission 21 — Saturday, 10 June 44 — Boulogne Forward to Mission 22
Mission 21
Bad weather on the 9th had given the 492nd another day off. The weather didn't improve much but the stakes were too high in Normandy. The Group was ordered to participate in two B-24 armadas. The first one, their mission number 21, would be to Boulogne, France to bomb an airfield.
The Group dispatched 24 planes, of which 1 from the 856th had to abort due to an overheated engine. This mission was led by a Pathfinder. Assumption is that 2 Pathfinders from the 44th BG led the mission without an officer from the 492nd on board.
Mission Numbering
The Group participated in two missions on this day, both to different airfield targets in France. However, different records contradict each other as to which was mission 21 and which was number 22. We are sticking with the sequence shown here (and on the Mission 22 page) until a compelling reason to do otherwise surfaces. For more details and further explanation, see the "Mission Numbering Controversy" link to the right.
Fighter Protection
French air was swarming with fighters from the 8th and 9th Air Forces.
Enemy Resistance
The Mighty 8th did lose a B-24 and its crew on this run. Plus another 30 were damaged and 2 of them were beyond repair. However, we haven't found anything to say what resistance was encountered by the 492nd. All we know is that they all came back without casualties.
Bombsight
According to records, all 23 sorties were able to hit their target. We don't know if they were able to see the target or just relied on the Pathfinders.
Epilogue
Four of the Captains and their crews got their notice transferring them to the 44th BG for Pathfinder training. These Captains were already Captains when they came into the Group. They also had had advanced or specialty training not offered to most pilots. Plus they had more leadership experience. Now that they had some combat missions under their belts, they were perfect canidates to become Pathfinder pilots. The crews leaving were: Davis Crew 704, Stanhope Crew 710, Handwright Crew 807 and Uebelhoer Crew 904. Later the Stanhope Crew would get a change in their orders sendng them the 93rd BG, which also had Pathfinders.
The transfer order had nothing to do with the upcoming reorganization of the Group. This was nothing more than the Air Force filling its needs.
Mission Data
Mission: 21
Date: 10 Jun 44
City: Boulogne, France
Target: Airfield
Aircraft
DIS:
24
Abort:
1
ATT:
23
RTB:
23
Lost:
0
PFF:
2
Bomb Load
Tons: 92
Type: n/a
Result: n/a
Enemy Action
Flak: None
GAF: 0
Counter Action
Kills: 0
492nd Casualties
KIA:
0
WIA:
0
POW:
0
INT:
0
More Info
This mission's impact
on the overall war
Essay on the
perplexing mission
numbering puzzle
492ndBombGroup.com — an Arnett Institute project
Page last modified Thursday, May 11, 2017.