22 Bombers Shot Down Without Fighter Escorts

June 13, 1943

A total of 76 bombers from the Eighth Air Force are dispatched for a raid on Kiel, Germany, without fighters. Sixty make it to the target, but 22 are shot down, highlighting the need for fighter escorts. Among those killed that day was Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest III, the first American general killed in combat during the war in Europe.

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