Planes swarm to aid invaders as skies clear
By Walter Cronkite
London, England (UP) –
Thousands of U.S. and British warplanes went to the support of Allied invasion armies in France today, taking advantage of improving weather to strike at German troop concentrations, airports, rail centers and gun posts behind the Normandy front.
A 1,000-plane fleet of Flying Fortresses, Liberators, Mustangs, Thunderbolts and Lightnings bombed and gunned many airdromes in Brittany and Normandy, Nazi strongpoints near the battlefront, and targets of every variety.
The daylight fleet of U.S. planes struck in the wake of perhaps 750 British heavy bombers which defied night storms to smash at the most forward airdromes behind the German lines, impeding a reported Nazi attempt to reinforce its air squadrons in the battle area.
While the RAF heavy bombers were pounding four airfields in northern France, a force of Mosquitos struck at Berlin for the first time since May 27. They dropped more than 30 two-ton bombs in a lightning attack just before 1:30 a.m. (local time).
In the 12 hours up to noon, the Allies had flown nearly 3,500 sorties, including the RAF night activity, dumping perhaps 5,000 tons of bombs on German strongpoints.
One phase of the air battle shifted to the sea, where U.S. and RAF bombers operating under the Coastal Command were flying ceaseless patrols in search of U-boats revealed to be threatening to attack Allied lines of communications to the continental beachhead.