Eighth Air Force. United Kingdom-Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics-Italy-United Kingdom shuttle mission is completed
as 72 B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers and 59 P-51 Mustang
fighter-bombers fly without bombs from Italy to United Kingdom.
2 B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers and a P-51 Mustang fighter-bombers
abort and a P-51 Mustang fighter-bombers crash-lands South
West of Paris. 70 B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers and 57
P-51 Mustang fighter-bombers land safely in United Kingdom.
Over 800 B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers escorted by 3
fighters groups bomb 117 flak batteries and installations
and an airfield, all in the Netherlands. 16 fighters groups
escort aeroplanes of First Allied Airborne Army making parachute
and glider drop of 20,000 troops into the Netherlands to secure
axis of advance toward Zuider Zee for British Second Army,
as part of MARKET-GARDEN, 17-30
September 1944. Troops dropped are I Airborne Corps, consisting
of British 1st Airborne Division (with Polish Para Brigade)
and United States 82d and 101st Airborne Division. The fighters
groups also bomb and strafe flak positions and other ground
targets, encountering intense flak and about 30 fighters.
16 United States fighters are lost. Claims include 8 aeroplanes
and 107 flak positions destroyed.
Operation Market Garden was an unsuccessful Allied military
operation, fought in the Kingdom of The Netherlands and Germany
during World War II. It was the biggest airborne operation
up to that time.
Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery goal was to force an
entrance into Germany and over the Rhine River. Field Marshal
Bernard Law Montgomery wanted to sidestep the northern end
of the Siegfried Line and this necessitated the operation
to seize the bridges across the Maas and two arms of the Rhine
(the Waal and the Lower Rhine) as well as several smaller
canals and tributaries. Crossing the Lower Rhine would allow
the Allies to surround Germany's industrial heartland in the
Ruhr from the north. It made large-scale use of airborne forces,
whose tactical objectives were to secure the bridges and allow
a rapid advance by armoured units into Northern Germany.
At first, the operation was marginally successful and several
bridges between Eindhoven and Nijmegen were captured. Nevertheless,
General Horrocks' XXX Corps ground force's advance was detained
by the demolition of a bridge over the Wilhelmina Canal, as
well as an extremely overstretched supply line, at Son, holding
up the capture of the main road bridge over the Meuse until
. At Arnhem, the British 1st Airborne Division came
across far stronger resistance than expected. In the resulting
battle, only a small force managed to hold one end of the
Arnhem road bridge and after the ground forces failed to relieve
them, they were overrun on 21
. The rest of the division, trapped in a
small pocket west of the bridge, had to be evacuated on 25
. The Allies had failed to cross the Rhine
in sufficient force and the river remained a barrier to their
advance until the offensives at Remagen, Oppenheim, Rees and
Wesel in March 1945
Ninth Air Force. No combat bomber missions are flown. Weather
permits 1 leaflet mission. XIX Tactical Air Command supports
United States VIII Corps in Brest area and flies armed reconnaissance
over Trier and Saarbrucken areas. IX Tactical Air Command
flies armed reconnaissance in the Dusseldorf, Duren, Cologne,
and Linz, Rhine areas, supports United States 2d and 5th Armoured
Divisions and 4th Infantry Division in the Netherlands, and
participates in MARKET-GARDEN.
Twelfth Air Force. United States Army Air Force (USAAF) B-25
Mitchell medium bombers hit troop concentrations in British
Eighth Army battle area in vicinity of Rimini. B-25 Mitchell
medium bombers pound rail bridges in West Po Valley, while
fighter-bombers operating in the Valley attack rails, roads,
rolling stock, road bridges, motor transport and other targets.
In the mountains South of the Valley United States Fifth Army
forces break through Gothic Line at Il Giogo Pass, take Monte
Altuzzo and Pratone, finish clearing Monte Veruca, and gain
crest of Monte Monticelli. United States Seventh Army's French
2d Corps makes contact with United States Third Army's French
2d Armoured Division near Bains-les-Bains.
Fifteenth Air Force. 440 United States Army Air Force (USAAF)
heavy bombers, with fighters escort, attack 2 oil refineries
and 4 marshalling yards in Budapest area in an attempt to
hit Germany's principal remaining oil supply and to aid Soviet
and other friendly forces on South Russian front by pounding
the focal rail traffic point in that area. Some of the escorting
fighters strafe targets in the general target area Bad weather
hampers all but 8 of 54 B-24 Liberator heavy bombers flying
supplies to South France. 25 heavy bombers return from Cairo
to Italy with Allied airmen formerly imprisoned in Bulgaria.
2 B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers, escorted by 41 P-51
Mustang fighter-bombers, evacuate wounded airmen from Czechoslovakia
Tenth Air Force. 8 United States Army Air Force (USAAF) P-47
Thunderbolt fighters bomb Katha, 8 hit Momauk and Wanling,
and 8 others attack Bhamo. 6 B-25 Mitchell medium bombers
hit Mangshih while 3 others bomb Indaw. 16 B-24 Liberator
heavy bombers haul fuel to Liuchow. Troop Carrier aircraft
fly over 200 sorties delivering personnel and supplies to
various points in China-Burma-India (CBI).
Fourteenth Air Force. 29 United States Army Air Force (USAAF)
B-24 Liberator heavy bombers bomb Changsha. 27 B-25 Mitchell
medium bombers hit Hwangshapu, Kiyang, and Nanyo. 130 P-51
Mustang fighter-bombers and P-40 fighters on armed reconnaissance
attack town areas, strong points, shipping, railway targets,
gun positions, trucks, and other targets from Northeast of
Ichang southward through Hunan province and beyond. Areas
hit include Changsha, Kiyang, Lingling, Chuanhsien, Siangtan,
Hengshan, Kweiyang, and Lingkuantien, plus scattered targets
Far East Air Force (FEAF). United States Army Air Force (USAAF)
B-25 Mitchell medium bombers bomb Buayoan airfield B-24 Liberator
heavy bombers, B-25 Mitchell medium bombers, and P-38 Lightning
fighters hit Langoan airfield. B-25 Mitchell medium bombers
and P-39 fighters, fighting bad weather, attack a variety
of targets, including airfields and villages in Amboina Ceram
area. P-47 Thunderbolt fighters and P-40 fighters pound Samate
Seventh Air Force. A United States Army Air Force (USAAF)
B-24 Liberator heavy bombers on a snooper mission from Saipan
bombs Iwo Jima. Armed reconnaissance over Marcus is unsuccessful
due to bad weather. Gilberts based B-25 Mitchell medium bombers
Eleventh Air Force. 2 United States Army Air Force (USAAF)
B-24 Liberator heavy bombers weather abort a mission to Suribachi.
4 B-25 Mitchell medium bombers fly an unsuccessful shipping
launched against England, hit Knockholt.
launched against England, hit East Ham.
launched against England, hit Hockley, near Southend.
launched against England, hit Coulsdon.
launched against England, hit Brockley, Lewisham.
Sunk 17 September 1944
Sunk 17 September 1944
Go To: 18th
The Second Great War.
Edited by Sir John Hamilton
The War Illustrated.
Edited by Sir John Hamilton
2194 Days Of War.
For a complete list of sources