THE FLIGHT Just before dawn on 6 June 1944, wave after wave of Eighth Air Force heavy bombers targeted the coastal defenses to clear the way for the assault troops. The IX Troop Carrier Command executed one of the largest airborne operations in history, dropping more than 13,000 American paratroopers of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions behind Utah and Omaha beaches in missions named Albany, Boston, Chicago, and Detroit. Simultaneously, RAF and Ninth Air Force fighters swept the skies and struck German command posts, bridges, and radar installations. The 8th Air Force alone flew deception and bombardment missions in the days preceding H-Hour, striking Pas-de-Calais targets to confuse the enemy as to the true landing area. Supreme Commander Eisenhower, in his official report to the Combined Chiefs of Staff, noted that by the morning of 5 June the forecast contained only a "gleam of hope"—a brief interval of fair weather—but the air armadas launched nonetheless, and the invasion force encountered virtually no air opposition.