70 Years Ago Today: Monday, June 19, 1944 European Theater, (POINTBLANK) 8th Air Force Mission 423 – In the morning, 464 B-17s are dispatched against airfields in the Bordeaux area, hitting Cormes Ecluse, Bordeaux/Merignac, Cazaux, Landes-de-Bussac, Cabanac and targets of opportunity. Fighter escort is provided by 88 P-38s and 261 P-51s. Seven B-17s, four P-38s and six P-51s are lost, with 69 men listed as killed of missing. 8th Air Force Mission 424 – In both morning and afternoon missions, 391 B-17s and 312 B-24s hit 35 V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais area. Fighter escort is provided by 196 P-38s, 122 P- 47s and 48 P-51s. One B-24 is lost, with 10 men listed as missing. Some P-38s, after completing escort duty, dive-bombs and strafes transportation targets in northeastern France, destroying a locomotive and three barges. After standing by for three days waiting for clouds over the Pas de Calais to clear, 19 RAF Lancasters and 11 Mosquitos attack the flying-bomb storage facility, but the conditions were too difficult for accurate marking and the nearest Tallboy bomb was 50 yards from the target. European Theater, Battle of Normandy The 9th Air Force sends around 200 fighters on an uneventful armed reconnaissance patrols in the morning. They dive-bomb six NOBALL (V-weapon) targets in the afternoon. In US First Army area, VII Corps begins its final drive on Cherbourg with three divisions abreast. On the left, the 9th Division, attacking with the 60th Regiment and the 39th Regiment, advances quickly northward to Helleville, St Christophe- du-Foc, and Couville. The 4th Cavalry Squadron, of the 4th Cavalry Group, which is attached to the 9th Division to screen the right flank, reaches St Martin-le-Gréard. A battalion of the 359th Infantry, of the 90th Division, is also committed on the 9th Division’s right flank, to hold the Rocheville area. In the center, the 79th Division’s 313th and 315th Regiments attack from a line from Golleville to Urville, which the 60th Division has previously secured. The 313th Regiment reaches its objective, Bois de la Brique, but the 315th Regiment, directed to bypass Valognes and cut the Cherbourg highway northwest of there, is halted southwest of Valognes, and is left in that position to contain the town from the west. Meanwhile, the 314th Regiment moves forward during the night to take over the 9th Division’s left flank, and the 313th Regiment shifts to the right flank. The 4th Division, on VII Corps right, encounters firm opposition from enemy forces deployed for the defense of Cherbourg. During the night, the 8th Regiment and the 12th Regiment attack on either side of Montebourg, which the 3rd Battalion, of the 22nd Infantry, finds clear of enemy, well before dawn, with the 8th Regiment reaching positions just southeast of Valognes. The 24th Cavalry Squadron, of the 4th Cavalry Group, screens the right flank of 4th Division. The French complete the occupation of Elba Island. In VIII Corps area, the 82nd Airborne Division and the 90th Division are transferred to VIII Corps from VII Corps. General Montgomery schedules an offensive for the British Second Army for June 22 and 23. A violent storm, lasting through the 22nd, seriously handicaps the build-up of troops and supplies. Mulberry “A,” at Omaha Beach is destroyed. By June 9, just three days after D-Day, two harbors codenamed Mulberry “A” and Mulberry “B” were constructed at Omaha Beach and Arromanches. However, the storm on June 19 destroyed the American harbor at Omaha Beach, leaving the British harbor still intact, but damaged. Part of the damage was to the “Swiss Roll,” which had been deployed as the most western floating roadway, and had to be taken out of service. The surviving Mulberry “B” became known as Port Winston at Arromanches. While the harbor at Omaha Beach was destroyed sooner than expected, Port Winston saw heavy use for eight months, even though it was designed to last only three months. In the 10 months after D-Day, it was used to land over 2.5 million men, 500,000 vehicles, and four million tons of supplies, providing much needed reinforcements in France. In response to this longer than planned use the Phoenix breakwater was reinforced with the addition of extra specially strengthened caisson. In France, the airfield at Cardonville, the first US field in France, becomes operational Italian Campaign Weather again grounds 12th Air Force light and medium bombers, but fighter-bombers hit railroads, gun emplacements, factory and shipping in an north of the battle area, at scattered points in the countryside, and around the towns of Pontedera, Leghorn, Sestri Levante and Viareggio. China – Burma – India Theater (China) The 14th Air Force dispatches about 150 fighter-bombers and eight B-25s to hit a variety of targets throughout the Tungting Lake area, in China. Targets include shipping from Siangyin to Chuchou, and at various points along the Siang-Chiang River, villages and compounds between Yiyang and Changsha, and boats and river area at Anking. 18 P-40s damage two bridges and destroy about 20 fuel trucks at Yuncheng. On the Salween front 15 P-40s hit trucks and military installations, and four B-25s bomb the Kengluang bridge. China – Burma – India Theater (Burma) 30 B-25s, from the 10th Air Force, complete an ammunition run to Imphal, India. Elsewhere, 33 A-36s, P-51s, and P-40s strike Myitkyina, Mogaung and Pinbaw, Burma. On the Salween front, Ku-tung falls to elements of the Chinese 2nd Reserve Division pushing south toward Teng-chung. The Chinese 53rd Army is preparing to attack Chiangtso. Southwest Pacific Area The Far East Air Force (FEAF) sends a force of over 100 A-20s and fighter-bombers to maintain strikes along the coast around Wewak, New Guinea, hitting supply and bivouac areas, roads, personnel, and a coastal gun position. More A-20s hit airfields at Manokwari, on Noemfoor Island, and Moemi. Other B-25s hit forces in the Cape Orford region, of New Britain Island, and B-24s bomb Dublon and Eten island, in the Truk Atoll. On Biak, Task Force HURRICANE opens a coordinated assault for the airfields after preparatory artillery fire. The 186th Infantry, making a main effort in the region north and west of West Caves, reaches the ridges west of Hill 320, cutting the road leading south to West Caves and enveloping the rear of the West Caves position. Enemy opposition is scattered. New orders call for the 162nd Infantry to reduce the West Caves, while the 186th Infantry continues to clear the region to northwest and the 34th Infantry seizes the Borokoe and Sorido airdromes. Over the Marianas, carrier planes of Task Force 58 engage a huge force of planes from enemy carriers and inflict crippling losses. The Japanese lose over 400 aircraft. There is only superficial damage to a few vessels of Task Force 58 and only 17 US planes are destroyed. Efforts are made to locate Japanese fleet. Officially, this is called the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Unofficially, it is nicknamed the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot. Central Pacific Area 7th Air Force B-24s, staging through Eniwetok Atoll, strike Truk Atoll. Meanwhile, B-24s, from Kwajalein Atoll, and B-25s, out of Makin Island, pound Ponape Island. On Saipan, a new phase opens as Marines pivot north, with the 4th Marine Division moving around the 2nd Marine Division, to clear the northern part of island. The 27th Division is to clear Nafutan Point and the southern coast, a task presumed to be merely a mop-up mission. The 165th Infantry reaches the south coast of Magicienne Bay without opposition. In the 105th Infantry sector, the 3rd Battalion is virtually unopposed as it moves forward over rugged terrain. The 1st Battalion, after a frontal assault on the first of a series of ridges of the enemy’s Nafutan position fails, moves to outflank the enemy. Late in day, the 1st Battalion, of the 165th Infantry, is sent back to the airfield to plug a gap that has developed in the line of 105th Infantry. North Pacific Area The 11th Air Force sends two B-24s on armored photo reconnaissance over Paramushiru Island. They bomb the Suribachi area with unobserved results.
Posted on: Thu, 19 Jun 2014 12:02:31 +0000
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