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13 January 1943
Not yet known
4ht Fighter Group despatches 69 Spitfires to provide bomber escort. The escort is provided to the attacking force of VIII Bomber Command Mission 29 attacking Lille, France; and to two RAF bomber formations attacking targets at St. Omer, France. Exact dispositions to these three elements has not yer been determined. This is the first instance where 8AF fighters have been specifically to escort an 8AF heavy bomb mission. 1 Spitfire is forced down at Tangmere with Category B damage (it was repaired).
Also, 4th Fighter Group despatches 2 Spitfires on a fighter patrol along the English Coast.
DEFENSIVE PATROL
Spitfire
Defensive patrol of English Coast.
Group
Some of the pilots of the 4th Fighter Group had seen many hours of combat by the time they joined the 4th Fighter Group as they had volunteered with the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Royal Air Force. The three 'Eagle Squadrons' of RAF Fighter...
| Number of aircraft Sent | 2 |
FIGHTER ESCORT
Spitfire
Spitfires are despatched to escort the 8th Air Force bombers as well as two raids by RAF Bostons against St. Omer. One Spitfire is listed as Missing in Action (MIA) but it was actually forced down by engine failure at Tangmere in England. This is the first time that fighters have been specifically used to escort 8th Air Force bombers.
Group
Some of the pilots of the 4th Fighter Group had seen many hours of combat by the time they joined the 4th Fighter Group as they had volunteered with the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Royal Air Force. The three 'Eagle Squadrons' of RAF Fighter...
| Number of aircraft Sent | 69 |
| Number of aircraft Damaged | 1 |
| Enemy aircraft claimed as Destroyed by Fighter Command | 3 |
| Enemy aircraft claimed as Probably Destroyed by Fighter Command | 4 |
| Enemy aircraft claimed as Damaged by Bomber Command | 5 |
Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 303rd Bomb Group
On 23 January 1943 in B-17F 41-24580 'Hell Cat', 303BG/358BS while serving as Tail Gunner the aircraft was downed by fighters near Brest. He was able to parachute to safety and was captured as a Prisoner of War (POW). Participated in 7 Operations -...
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 15 February 2015 19:53:49 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to event |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 15-Feb-2015. Added fighter claims on enemy aircraft to statistics on St. Omer escort per "The Mighty Eighth War Diary" Roger A. Freeman. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 08 December 2014 23:07:49 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to description |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 8-Dec-2014. Added fighter patrol to description. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 08 December 2014 23:05:12 | Lee8thbuff | Changes to name and description |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham 8-Dec-2014. Description based on 'The Mighty Eighth War Diary" Roger A, Freeman. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:43:18 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham, 8th Air Force missions research database / Stan Bishop's 'Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces', the Combat Chronology of the US Army Air Forces and the work of Roger Freeman including the 'Mighty Eighth War Diary'. |
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