Evening star., 1944-05-21
5000 Tons Loosed
On RuiI functions
And NuziAirfieIds
BY the Associated Press.

greatest mass air attack of the
war the Allies hurled 5000 Brit
ish-based planes at Hitler's West
Wall defenses today and blasted
a 150-mile strip from Brittany to
Belgium with a total of at least
5000 tons of explosives.
Nineteen rail functions, eight air.
fields and numerous other installa-
tions which Hitler hoped to use in
combating the coming Western in
vasion were pounded in the gigan-
tic onslaught which began soon
after midnight and extended twice
around the clock into darkness
tonight.
Allied losses announced for all the
operations from midnight to mid
night amounted to seven Raj
heavies, two American heavies,
three American mediums, two
American light bombers, five
American fighters and one Ameri-
can f1ghter-bomber-a total of 20
planes.
Every type of plane based in Brit
ain was thrown into the unpre-
cedented bombardment, with the
Allied Expeditionary Air Force
which will move into the continent
IN support of the invasion landings
flying more than 1000 sorties.
American Armada Sets Pace.
An American armada of nearly
l,250 heavy bombers and fighters set
the pace for the daylight blows with
attacks on three airfields and one
rail center after the Raj had started
the days cycle with attacks on four
important French rail centers.
The Americans sent out a four
to-one escort, 900 fighters accom-
panying a force of approximately
ESQ Fortresses and Liberators-in
the principal daylight operation.
Possibly the air command sus-
pected strong fighter opposition and
wanted to be prepared by sending
out one of the highest escort ratios
OF the war, but the precaution
proved unnecessary. The fighters
went looking for trouble, yet
sighted only few German planes
and none of these reached the
bombers.
Two Nazis were downed while the
American loss was two bombers and
five fighters, most of them probably
victims Of fax.
Medium Bombers Active.
Long after the heavies returned
to their bases the skies over France
remained thick with the medium
bombers, fighters and other light
planes Of the AEAF.
Marauders and Havocs-the ter
rible twins on the American side of
the AEAF-alone dumped more than
$50 tons of bombs on five airfields,
the post area of Dieppe and other
military targets, striking in strength
at the continent twice during the
day.
Three Marauders and two Havocs
were lost in the double -barreled as
saults, but all their escorting fight
ers returned. Flax was reported
especially heavy over Dieppe, which
was pounded for the second time in
two days.
American and British fighter
b m bers with fighter escorts
swarmed over Northern France and
Belgium by the hundreds through
out the day.
The United States 9th Air Force
alone sent out more than 1000 of
these Mustangs, Thunderbolts and
ILightnings and AEAF headquarters
described the day as the most stren-
uous operations in the history of the
9Th Fighter Command.
In all of these sweeps the 9th's
planes encountered not a single
enemy fighter and only one Ameri-
can plane failed to return.
Like the medium and light bomb
ers, United States Thunderbolt
fighter -bombers made double at
tack against five rail functions.
Today's stabbing blows brought
to 205 the number of raids made on
rail centers in Germany and oc-
cupied countries by Allied day and
night bambers since March 2, when
(See RAIDS, Page A-5D