< The victories August 15, 1944 27th victory o


Exemple : P-47 410th FS 373rd FGEx

P-47 Thunderbolt

 


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1. ftp.rutgers.edu in directory pub/wwii/usaf
2. byrd.mu.wvnet.edu (129.71.32.152) in pub/history/military/airforce/wwii_chronology

TUESDAY, 15 AUGUST 1944

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force) :

Mission 554 :

932 bombers and 443 fighters are dispatched to attack 11 airfields in NW Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium in conjunction with 1,000 Royal Air Force (RAF) heavy bombers and Mosquitos raiding 9 airfields in the Netherlands and Belgium ; 16 bombers and 5 fighters are lost; numbers in parenthesis indicate the number of bombing attacking :

1. 219 B-17s are dispatched to hit German airfields at Cologne/Ostheim (108), Frankfurt/Eschborn (65) and Wiesbaden (38); 3 others hit targets of opportunity; they claim 4-2-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 9 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 86 damaged; 7 airmen are KIA, 8 WIA and 81 MIA.
Escort is provided by 112 of 141 P-51s; they claim 10-0-1 aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 2 damaged.

2. 350 B-24s are dispatched to German airfields at Wittmundhaafen (91), Zwischenahn (90), Vechta (67), Plantlunne (54) and Hopstein (10); they claim 9-1-2 aircraft; 4 B-24s are lost and 6 damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 40 MIA.
Escort is provided by 163 P-38s and P-51s; they claim 4-0-0 aircraft in the air and 7-0-9 on the ground; 2 P-38s and 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA); 3 P-51s are damaged; 1 pilot is WIA.

3. 298 B-17s are dispatched to Dutch airfields at Handorf (109), Venlo (104) and Twente/Enschede (75); 3 others hit targets of opportunity; 2 B-17s are lost and 6 damaged; 19 airmen are MIA.

4. In Belgium, 59 of 65 B-24s hit Florennes/Juzaine Airfield and 1 hits a target of opportunity; 1 B-24 is lost and 3 damaged.
The two missions above are escorted by 118 of 124 P-51s without loss.

33 of 35 P-47s dive-bomb and skip-bomb a repair shop and locomotives in the marshalling yard at Braine-le-Comtes; 1 P-47 is lost and 4 damaged; 4 pilots are MIA.
(! ! !)

12 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.


TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force) :

The 50th and 53d Troop Carrier Wings, on loan to the Mediterranean Allied Air Force (MAAF), participate in the invasion of S France as part of the Provisional Troop Carrier Air Division.

In France, 330+ A-20s and B-26s with fighter escort bomb Marseille-en-Beauvaisis and Foret de Chantilly ammunition and fuel dumps, rail bridges at Auvers-sur-Oise and L'Isle-Adam, Serqueux marshalling yard, and coastal defense at Saint- Malo ;
fighters fly cover for 5 infantry and armored divisions, and fly extensive armed reconnaissance over N and W France ;

HQ 365th Fighter Group and 388th Fighter Squadron move from Azeville to Lignerolles with P-47s ;
HQ 370th Fighter Group and the 401st, 402d and 485th Fighter Squadrons move from Cardonville to La Vielle with P-38s ;
the 14th Liaison Squadron, XIX Tactical Air Command (attached to Third Army), moves from St Germain to La Bazoche with L-5s ;
the 33d Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group, moves from Chalgrove, England to Le Molay with F-5s ;
the 356th Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group, moves from Cricqueville to Gael with P-51s ;
and the 392d, 393d and 394th Fighter Squadrons, 367th Fighter Group, move from Carentan to Cricqueville with P-38s.


P-47 declared lost on August 15, 1944 (current result of my works) :
Source : MACR

serial number

 plane type

squadron

 code

 reason

mission lost on

pilot 

42-26405

P-47D-25-RE

9 USAAF 405 FG

G9 or
2Z or
K4

 
Crash Location
18.40
5 miles North-West from Flers (61)

MACR 8517

42-27912

P-47D-23-RA

12 USAAF 79 FG

X??

 

Invasion of southern France

Crash Location
5 miles South-West from Nice

No MACR

42-28431

P-47D-26-RE

9 USAAF 373 FG

R3 or
U9 or
V5

? II./JG26 ?
Crash Location
Clairefontaine

MACR 8572

42-75510

P-47D-11-RE

9 USAAF 373 FG

R3 or
U9 or
V5

? II./JG26 ?
Crash Location
near
Rambouillet

MACR 8573

42-75529

P-47D-11-RE

9 USAAF 373 FG

R3 or
U9 or
V5

? II./JG26 ?
Crash Location
? 12.34 ?
Rambouillet
Forest

MACR 8571

42-75870

P-47D-16-RE

56 FG
63 FS

UN-Y

flak

Crash Location
near
St. Trond

Capt . Robert D Campbell Jr.
KIA
MACR 7599

42-76308

P-47D-15-RE

9 USAAF 373 FG

R3 or
U9 or
V5

 
Crash Location
Ballancourt

MACR 8081


This table contain all 7 MACRs dated August 15, 1944.
But Missing Air Crew Report were issued when a crew was missing.
If the American pilot was shot down over allied territories and rescued
he was not considered missing = no MACR.
But his aircraft was really lost. This show that if MACRs are very precious sources,
they are not the exact reflect of effective material losses, in particular from june 1944 until the end of the war.


 * - - - Special thanks to Marc Doucet for his help - - - *
 

Source : Book "Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt in the European Theater" by Ernest R. McDowell

The 373rd FG had a field day on 15 August when the 411th FS claimed 8 victories and the 412th FS bagged four more.


Source : Peter Randall

Capt Robert D Campbell Jr crashed near St. Trond due to flak.


Description of this victory by Heinz Knoke and different information :
 

Heinz Knoke Informations

Personal comments

 Source

 I flew for the f... page 164
 

 Date

August 15, 1944
 

Type of claimed plane

Thunderbolt
 

Place of the interception

   

 Crash Location

 

Square TC-2 (Rouen)
(Source
Jean - Bernard Frappé's Book "La Luftwaffe face au débarquement allié")

Presumed mission
Luftwaffe

"Once more we fly as escort to our fighter-bombers."
"Altogether six missions are flown today."
 

 Schedule

 

Brétigny-sur-Orge's takeoff

Weather report

"The weather is unbearably hot and sultry."
 

Knoke's Unit

  JG1 1944 III./JG1
The II./JG11 operated on 15 august 1944 from Brétigny-sur-Orge airfield.
III./JG1 and II./JG11, twins units often operated together, had probably made on 15 August common missions and fights.

Description of the fight

"In a dog-fight I bring my score up to twenty-eight by shooting down another Thunderbolt."
The II./JG11, probably under Knoke's orders, fight near 16.30 round from Brétigny-sur-Orge.
The Bf 109 G-6 5 (#165475) from Uffz. Heinz Marx 8./JG11 was lost near Brétigny-sur-Orge.

The P-47 Serial
42-76308 crashed at Ballancourt... another airfield of JG11 situated 6 miles on South of Brétigny-sur-Orge.
This P-47 is potentially the most "compatible" with Knoke's claimed victory. It is possible that its crash location, very near from
III./JG1 and II./JG11' bases made easier this victory
ratification.

Without any details from Knoke's testimony, all this remain only pure hypothesis...

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