Of the 291 B-17 Flying Fortresses sent Sending on the mission , 60 were lost Earnings_and_losses outright , another 17 damaged Damaging so heavily that they had to be scrapped GiveUp and another 121 had varying degrees of battle damage .

The parachute drop was carried out Military_operation by the US Army 's 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment and elements of the Australian Army 's 2/4th Field Regiment into Nadzab , New Guinea in the Markham Valley , observed by General Douglas MacArthur , circling Motion overhead in a B-17 .