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VIII Fighter Command FO-103 FIGHTER SWEEPS

15 August 1943

Official description

Not yet known

Description

176 P-47s from: 4FG; 56FG; 78FG; and 353FG are despatched on figher sweeps of the Knokke/Bruges/Lille/St. Omer areas of Belgium and France. There are no losses or claims and no german fighters are encountered. This is typical for the Luftwaffe whose strategic aims are to not to engage in purely fighter-on-fighter encounters. The Luftwaffe wants to conserve their fighter resources to attack bombers (US and RAF).

Mission details

1. KNOKKE / BRUGES / LILLE / SAINT OMER

Description

FIGHTER SWEEP

Aircraft type

P-47 Thunderbolt

Notes

Fighter sweep of Knokke/Bruges/Lille/St.Omer area

Units

  • 353rd Fighter Group

    353rd Fighter Group

    Group
    The 353rd Fighter Group was assigned to the Eighth Air Force on 7 June 1943. The group flew P-47 Thunderbolts, and from October 1944, P-51 Mustangs, as escorts for bombing missions across occupied Europe and to strafe targets on the ground. Tactical...

  • 4th Fighter Group

    4th Fighter Group

    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...

  • 56th Fighter Group

    56th Fighter Group

    Group
    Flying P-47 Thunderbolts throughout their time stationed in England, the Group, known as "the Wolfpack", had more ace pilots than any other Eighth Air Force Fighter Group. The 56th Fighter Group also destroyed more enemy aircraft in air combat than any...

  • 78th Fighter Group

    78th Fighter Group

    Group
    The 78th Fighter Group was initially based at Goxhill but moved to Duxford in April 1943 and stayed there until October 1945. The 78th FG flew each of the three US built principal fighters of the AAF in the ETO. In their Thundetbolts, the 78th FG ...

Mission Statistics

Number of aircraft Sent 176

Revisions

Date Contributor Update
16 May 2015 21:43:15 Lee8thbuff Changes to name and description
Sources

Lee Cunningham 16-May-2015. Added Mission Narrative based on "The Mighty Eighth War Diary", Roger A. Freeman.
Date Contributor Update
27 September 2014 18:43:19 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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