was out of action for several days. Ninth Air Force moved its medium bomber forces to bases closer to the Continent in July, so they would be able to strike targets near the expanding front in France. The 387th Bombardment Group was moved to Stoney Cross, forcing the 394th to vacate their station and move the short distance to RAF Ibsley. From Ibsley the group struck railroads, marshaling yards, and trains to prevent enemy reinforcements from reaching the front during the Allied breakthrough at Saint Lo in July 1944. Operations on the European continent Starting on 19 July, the 367th Group's forward echelon crossed the English Channel to take up stations in Normandy. Group headquarters and the 394th shared Beuzeville Airfield with the 371st Fighter Group, an advanced landing ground made from pierced steel planking. After the breakout of ground forces in the Saint-Lô area, the squadron concentrated on close air support of General Patton's Third Army. In late August, the squadron attacked German Seventh Army convoys which, to prevent being surrounded, were withdrawing eastward from the Falaise pocket. Five convoys and 100 Tiger Tanks were destroyed on one day. On 22 August the group attacked three Luftwaffe airfields near Laon. The 392d Fighter Squadron dive bombed and destroyed two hangars on one airfield but were jumped by twelve Focke-Wulf Fw 190s as they completed their attack. Eighteen Messerschmitt Me 109s and Fw 190s engaged the 393d Fighter Squadron as it reformed from its dive bomb run. After bombing its target, the 394th Squadron turned to reinforce the 392d. The squadrons of the 367th Group claimed fourteen enemy aircraft in total against a loss of one Lightning. This combat was the first in which the 394th had been able to score an aerial victory over an enemy fighter. The 394th received a Distinguished Unit Citation when it returned to the Laon area three days later. That day, the 367th Group attacked Luftwaffe airfields at Clastres, Péronne and Rosières-en-Haye through an intense flak barrage. The group then engaged more than thirty Focke-Wulf 190 fighters that had just taken off. Group claims were 25 enemy aircraft destroyed, one probably destroyed and 17 damaged against the loss of 6 group aircraft. Then, despite a low fuel supply, the unit strafed a train and convoy after leaving the scene of battle. In the afternoon the squadron conducted a long range fighter sweep of more