Mission # 136

Eighth Air Force Operations, 15 June 1944:
Mission 414: 1,361 bombers are dispatched in 8 forces to bomb an oil refinery Germany and numerous tactical targets in France, including 9 airfields, an aircraft plant, a CROSSBOW (V-weapon) site, 11 bridges, a marshalling yard, and various scattered targets; 2 B-17s are lost:
Air Task Force #1. Of 747 B-17s dispatched, 172 hit the Hannover/Misburg oil refinery, 16 hit Wilster, 16 hit Wesermunde, 2 hit the Hannover area and 1 hits Helgoland Island, Germany; in France, 144 hit Bordeaux/Merignac Airfield, 71 hit Nantes railroad bridge N, 71 hit La Poissonniere rail viaduct, 70 hit Angouleme marshalling yard, 59 hit Beauvoir V-weapon site, 46 hit Nantes railroad bridge S, 12 hit Gael Airfield and 10 hit a viaduct N of Nantes; 2 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 267 damaged; 7 airmen are WIA and 18 MIA.
Air Task Force #2. Of 614 B-24s dispatched to France, 89 hit Le Port Boulet railroad bridge, 61 hit Evreux/Fauville Airfield, 59 hit Tours-la-Frillerie, 54 hit Tours-La Rice railroad bridge, 46 hit Guyancourt Airfield, 45 hit Etampes/ Modesir Airfield, 44 hit Cinq Mars bridge, 27 hit St Cyr, 21 hit Buc Airfield, 12 hit Tours-La Riche highway bridge, 12 hit Le Mans Airfield, 12 hit Orleans/Saran Airfield and 8 hit targets of opportunity; 12 B-24s use Azon missiles against Étaples railroad bridge and 7 others use the missiles against the Pecrone railroad bridge.
Fighter operations are:
1. 96 P-38s, 202 P-47s and 211 P-51s escort the bombers and claim 5-0-5 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 P-38s and 1 P-51 are lost with the pilots MIA.
2. 36 of 48 P-47s bomb Étaples, France; 1 P-47s is lost (pilot is MIA).
3. 177 of 185 P-38s fly a fighter sweep in front of the bomber forces without loss.
Source: Jack McKillop, Rutgers University