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VIII Fighter Command FO-159 FIGHTER SWEEPS

16 October 1943

Official description

Not yet known

Description

This mission is composed of two elements. The first element is a force of 39 P-38s despatched to fly fighter sweeps over the Dutch islands. There are no losses or claims.

The second element is a combined force of 132 P-47s from: 352FG; 355FG; and 356FG despatched to assist the P-38s in conducting a fighter swep over the Dutch islands. There are no losses or claims.

Mission details

1. DUTCH ISLANDS

Description

FIGHTER SWEEP

Aircraft type

P-38 Lightning

Notes

Fighter sweep over Dutch islands.

Units

  • 55th Fighter Group

    55th Fighter Group

    Group
    The 55th Fighter Group were the first P-38 Lightning Group to go fully operational from England. The pilots flew long-range escort missions for bombers flying over occupied Europe and racked up 'kills' of their own by destroying enemy aircraft in...

Mission Statistics

Number of aircraft Sent 39

2. DUTCH ISLANDS

Description

FIGHTER SWEEP

Aircraft type

P-47 Thunderbolt

Notes

Fighter sweep over Dutch islands.

Units

  • 352nd Fighter Group

    352nd Fighter Group

    Group
    The 352nd Fighter Group were based at Bodney, Norfolk from July 1943 until November 1945 but in the winter months of 1944/1945 detachments moved to bases in Belgium to provide extra air support to ground forces during the Battle of the Bulge and to...

  • 355th Fighter Group

    355th Fighter Group

    Group
    Where the 353rd Fighter Group had pioneered ground strafing techniques, it was the 355th Fighter Group who destroyed more enemy aircraft by ground strafing than any other Eighth Air Force Group. Based at Steeple Morden from July 1943 to July 1945, the...

  • 356th Fighter Group

    356th Fighter Group

    Group
    The 356th Fighter Group flew 413 missions between 15 October 1943 and 7 May 1945 and suffered the highest ratio of losses to enemy aircraft claims of any Eighth Air Force Group. This gave the Group the reputation of being the 'hard luck' outfit. The...

Mission Statistics

Number of aircraft Sent 132

Revisions

Date Contributor Update
05 July 2015 22:57:22 Lee8thbuff Changes to name and description
Sources

Lee Cunningham 5-Jul-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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