AUGUST 05-1944

XIX TACUS 3-AOne more Group, the 36th, was placed under command of the XIX TAC on August 5, raising the order of battle to five groups.

The 3-A’s swift advances continued, both eastward and westward but otherwise there was little change from the previous day. As before, the air plan provided cover for armored and infantry columns, and armed recces to aid in destruction of the enemy on the US XV CorpsUS XX CorpsBrittany Peninsula and in advance of the eastward pushing XV Corps, which was now joined by XX Corps. Only part of the day was flyable since the wind blew low stratus clouds from the English Channel onto coastal airdromes at about 1100 hours and they were not clear until late afternoon.

Nevertheless, 246 combat sorties and 10 successful tactical and photographic reconnaissance missions were flown. Forty-four tons of bombs were dropped, and results included 58 motor vehicles, a headquarters, 9 horse-drawn vehicles, and 8 gun positions destroyed, plus damage to a naval vessel in the St Malo Harbor.
A successful day, writes Maj James G. Martin of the G-3 (Air) Section of the 3-A in his History of the Employment of the Air Arm in Support of 3-A. The air was kept comparatively free of enemy aircraft and many ground targets were hit. Progress of the ground attack on all fronts was aided materially. Among the targets which might have caused the ground troops trouble were three self-propelled heavy guns, knocked out by eight bombs from eight P-47s of 405th Group, flying support for the 4-AD.

US 83-IDUS 7-ATwo other 500-pounders, dropped by 371st Group planes supporting 83-ID in the St Malo area, hit buildings which apparently contained explosives. Three or more detonations followed the bomb hits, and red flames shot to 400 feet. One of the prime objects of our reconnaissance in the area of Angers and south of the Loire River was the location of the 11. Panzer-Division, which was persistently reported to be moving north to strike our forces around Rennes in the flank. The division never materialized on our front, although a few elements may have been present for a time in the vicinity of Angers. The division eventually turned up in southern France opposing the invading US 7-A.

In the first five days of Blitz warfare, US style, the 3-A had conquered most of Brittany and in support XIX TAC fighter-bombers had flown 1088 sorties. In the face of our patrols, the Luftwaffe had put up no resistance at all by daylight. Our losses totaled only three aircraft and a partial list of the destruction and damage caused by our planes included 250 motor vehicles, 12 tanks, 9 horse-drawn vehicles, 4 locomotives, 9 railroad cars, and 2 naval vessels destroyed or damaged, 5 rail roads cuts, 17 gun positions, 7 fuel, and supply dumps, 2 marshaling yards, a gas tank, a headquarters, and 21 troops concentrations or bivouacs areas attacked.

AUGUST 06-1944

By the dawn of the sixth day of operation they entering a new phase. The enemy was withdrawing to concentration points at Brest, Lorient, St Malo, and the Paimpol Peninsula, and except for those hard cores of resistance, virtually all of Brittany was in US hands. Rennes had fallen almost without a struggle, and the airfield sites around this capital city of Brittany soon became available for our recon group and for some of our fighter-bombers. These sites were not only much closer to the scene of operations but also usually enjoyed better weather than the bases in the Normandy Peninsula. With the enemy on the defensive except in the Mortain area, where he was still trying to cut our traffic artery through Avranches, Gen Patton now pressed eastward in an encircling movement that threatened to strike the rear of the German forces facing the US 1-A and the British in the area of Mortain and Vire. Meanwhile, he continued the Brittany campaign and set out to secure the line of the Loire for the protection of his right flank.

Destroyed Panther Falaise 1944Below the Loire were enough German troops to cause considerable trouble for the relatively small forces available to hold the river line. G-2 estimated the enemy’s strength in that area to be about 20.000. The task of taking care of this flank was turned over to Gen Weyland by Gen Patton completely, with an expression of his confidence in the ability of the air to spot any danger from this quarter by recon and to prevent concentrations or large movements by means of its fighter-bombers. In the days which followed, the roads, rails, and marshaling yards south of the Loire were kept under constant close surveillance, and Gen Weyland’s fighter-bombers were frequently able to dissuade enemy elements from coming up north of the river. The principal cities of the Loire were quickly seized by the 3-A, and no real threat on this flank ever developed. When large movement eventually took place it was eastward – in the effort to get back to Germany – and the XIX TAC’s fighter-bombers were able to interfere with that ambition too. In view of the entrance of a new phase, the main weight of the XIX TAC’s air power was shifted on 6 August to the eastern front and Loire Valley, with patrols over the danger area in the Avranches corridor.

US XV CorpsUS 79-IDThe squadrons covering the XV Corps’ 79-ID, 90-ID and 5-AD in the area between Laval and Mayennes found the hunting good, especially in tanks.

One P-47 was lost; while strafing tanks, it ‘mushed in’ and exploded.

Combat sorties totaled 2953. There were no enemy aircraft claims, but 35.5 tons of US 5-ADUS 90-IDbombs were dropped on varied targets. Claims included 9 locomotives, 20 freight cars, 135 motor vehicles, 7 armored vehicles, and 35 field guns destroyed; also 3 locomotives, 46 MT, 14 armored vehicles, and 6 small boats were damaged. Attacks were also made on an enemy airdrome, a highway bridge, an ammunition dump, and a flak position. In addition, 26 successful tactical and photographic recon missions were flown, and B-26s of IX Bomber Command attacked the defenses of St Malo in response to our request of August 4.

Falaise 1944A successful day, pronounced the 3-A’s G-3 (Air) Section, with attacks on all types of targets, from boats to field guns. Movement east, south and west by ground troops was greatly facilitated. During the night of August 6/7, the enemy’s nocturnal bombing operations struck close to the 3-A–XIX TAC CP. Flares illuminated the entire area and bombs were dropped in the vicinity, causing some damage, although no harm was done to headquarters.

AUGUST 07-1944

XIX TACTo meet its increased responsibilities, the strength of the XIX TAC was now again augmented and its stature rose to nine full groups of fighter-bombers. These consisted of the 36th, 358th, 362nd, 371st, 373rd, 405th, and 406th (all equipped with P-47s) and the 354th and 363rd groups (flying P-51s). Seven of these groups and both of the wings (the 100th and 303rd) had been under the administrative control of the Command for months in the old IX Fighter Command days in England, so the basis for effective teamwork was firmly laid.
At the same time, it became apparent that the enemy’s air was growing more aggressive, in the effort to check the threatened encirclement and destruction of his army south of the Seine River. Word was received that in the early morning hours serious damage had been caused by an enemy air attack on a US supply column in the vicinity of St Hilaire, southwest of Mortain where the 1-A was holding the line against German counterattacks toward Avranches.

This augury of action was fully fulfilled. It was a day of hard fighting, and when it was over our claims included the destruction of 33 aircraft (14 destroyed, 1 probably destroyed, 3 damaged in the air, and 19 on the ground). Ten planes and pilots were lost.

Another Destroyed Tank, Normandy, 1944Sorties hit a new high, with a total of 601 Tons bomb on targets totaled 62, and claims included 2 locomotives, 106 freight cars, 12 tanks, 98 MT, 90 horse-drawn vehicles, and a highway bridge and 5 barges destroyed; also 19 freight cars, 9 MT and 10 armored vehicles damaged; and a marshalling yard attacked.

Thirty-two TAC/R sorties were flown. Part of the bag of enemy aircraft was obtained when information was received that Chartres airfield was ripe for attack. Twelve P-47s of the 36th Group, a flying armored column (XV Corps) were ordered by radio to attack the field. Eight bombs were dropped, with resulting destruction of six aircraft (3 Me-109s, 2 Fw-190s and a Ju-52) and damage to three other Fw-190s. Thirteen more enemy planes were wiped out by 12 P-51 pilots of the veteran 354th Group who found a well camouflaged field six miles east of Chartres. Their strafing attack destroyed 12 Me-109s and a Ju-88 but cost three of our crack fighters. Another squadron of P-51s, on patrol in the Mayenne area, was vectored to intercept 12 Me-109s, destroying five and damaging two for loss of two planes and two pilots, one of whom was seen running from his ship. Meanwhile, the 3-A’s columns, with their cover of planes dive bombing and strafing, pressed forward in Brittany and to the east in the area of Laval and Mayenne. Tank battles were seen in the Vire-Mortain sector, and our planes took a hand in them. In one attack, seven P-47s of the 405th Group claimed destruction of 12 tanks, five staff cars, four half-tracks (three of them carrying flak guns) and four light flak positions, plus damage to four other tanks.

North American P-51C-5-NT Mustang (F-6C) Serial 42-103368 of the 15th TRS at St Dizler Airfield (ALG A-64), France, Autumn 1944. This aircraft was flown by Capt John H. Hoefker, who used it to shoot down three enemy aircraft in June 1944. Capt Hoefker became the 10th Group's first Ace and finished the war with 8½ air victories, although he (unofficially) had 10.5 killsOur armed recces now were reaching far beyond Paris as well as south of the Loire. Several trains and a power plant were successfully attacked as far east as Troyes and Soissons. On this date, the 3-A moved its headquarters from the vicinity of Beauchamps to a point near St James, well below the Avranches bottleneck. The XIX TAC’s forward echelon likewise moved, but serious communications troubles developed and for several days operations continued to be conducted by the small rear echelon at the previous site. The enemy’s counterattack toward Avranches was in progress, and our lines of communication were cut nightly by enemy saboteurs. Throughout the remainder of the month, the XIX TAC’s operational headquarters was never able to overtake the 3-A’s fast-traveling CP. Gen Patton’s headquarters, averaging 20 miles a day, set a pace that the air command could not match and still maintain its essential communications with its airfields far in the rear. Accordingly, a small advance echelon was assigned to the 3-A’s headquarters, with a direct telephone line to the XIX TAC, and Gen Weyland flew forward every other day or so for a personal conference with Gen Patton or his Chief of Staff.

(Photo Jan Kalina) Rob Davis at Milovice (LKML) with a North American P-51D Mustang



1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Previous articleSHAEF Communiques (ETO) May 1945
Next articleUSAAF Stations – WW2 – (Mediterranean)