July 19, 1944
The early morning calm was shattered by the thunder of over 150 aircraft blazing through the sky over the Seine as Allied and Luftwaffe aircraft fought for control of an increasingly desperate situation.
To the south, General Miles Dempsey's planned strike across the Seine to take the airfield near Le Havre was stopped cold by units of the German 116th SS Panzer division. Meanwhile, a carefully planned and brilliantly executed raid against Dempsey's forward airfield at Caen left the commonwealth forces dangerously unprotected against air attack, and they were forced to pull back.
Despite a late attempt to shut down the nearly completed airfield at Le Havre by B26s and P51s of the American AAF, supported by Typhoons and Spitfires of the RAF, the Germans were able to protect their recently placed stores of fuel and ordinance.
In other areas, the Germans were able to destroy several supply depots on the British controlled beaches of Normandy, while Allied aircraft were able to cause minimal damage to one of the northern Luftwaffe airfields.
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Tactical Analysis
V102: 2 VH destroyed
A40: 2 manned ack, 1 fuel depot remaining
A39: VH, radio tower, 3 fuel depots, 2 ordinance dumps, 3 manned ack, 1 barracks remaining
A38: Radio tower destroyed
Tactical victory to the Axis.
I'll get a point total tomorrow.
to all who participated.
