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Back to Mission 26 Mission 27 — Wednesday, 14 June 44 — Chateaudun Forward to Mission 28
Mission 27
The Group dispatched 18 planes to participate in a bombing raid on an airfield near Chateaudun, France. The Group's mission commander was Major Losee, the 856th Squadron Commander. He flew with the Ogden Crew 606. One crew had to abort when their plane developed a gas leak.
The remaining 17 joined what became an armada force of 103 bombers. We know that the 44th was in on this one but the 392nd wasn't. We don't know what other groups participated.
Mission Numbering
The Group participated in two missions on this day. According to official records, the raid on Emmerich, Germany, is listed as mission 26 and this attack on Chateaudun, France, is number 27. Some post-war records list these in the opposite order. We are sticking with the original records 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
Because this day was one of the largest bombing days of the war and most of the missions were to France, perhaps the escort details became too confusing as to who covered who. We don't have any individual accounts from the 492nd. However, according to the 44th BG no enemy fighters were encountered.
Enemy Resistance
The 44th did report encountering flak over the target, but described it as very light. Records show that no B-24s were lost with this armada. Other than that we have nothing.
Bombsight
Leaning on the 44th reports again, they had excellent results hitting the target. They had each plane loaded with 52 100 pound bombs.
Epilogue
The Allies were hung up in the hedgerow country, bad weather was protecting Germany and buzz bombs were falling on London. The war effort wasn't quite going as planned. However, progress was still being achieved. Thanks to the Allied dominance of the air and sea, more men and equipment were being packed into Normandy and the German forces were being held back. It would be another six weeks before the Allies could break out. The battle of the hedgerows witnessed some of the hardest fighting in the war.
Even though the weather had forced the 8th Air Force into doing milk runs, the missions were still dangerous. The Air Force lost 14 heavy bombers that day and not one them went to Germany.
Mission Data
Mission: 27
Date: 14 Jun 44
City: Chateaudun, France
Target: Airfield
Aircraft
DIS:
18
Abort:
1
ATT:
17
RTB:
17
Lost:
0
PFF:
0
Bomb Load
Tons: 47
Type: 100 lbs
Result: Excellent
Enemy Action
Flak: Light
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.