Today in World War II History—June 21, 1944

B-17s en route to Poltava, USSR, June 1944 (US Air Force photo)

80 Years Ago—June 21, 1944: US Eighth Air Force flies its first shuttle mission to USSR; B-17 bombers leave bases in England, bomb targets in Germany, and land at Poltava in Ukraine. That night the Luftwaffe bombs Poltava, destroying 47 of 72 B-17s on the ground.

Germans launch the one-thousandth V-1 buzz bomb; Britain has now moved 192 antiaircraft guns & 480 barrage balloons to protect London.

US B-17s under attack by German aircraft at Poltava, Jun 21, 1944 (Imperial War Museum: 72483)

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