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SATURDAY, 2 DECEMBER 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 734: 455 bombers and 604 fighters make GH attacks on
marshalling
yards and fighter bomber attacks; they claim 34-3-7 Luftwaffe
aircraft; 11
bombers and 4 fighters are lost:
1. 135 of 143 B-24s hit the Bingen marshalling yard; 1 others hit a
target
of opportunity; they claim 2-1-1 aircraft; 11 B-24s are lost and 4
damaged; 2
airmen are WIA and 102 MIA. Escorting are 97 of 104 P-51s; they
claim 4-1-2
aircraft without loss.
2. 152 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Lutzel marshalling yard at
Koblenz
(9) and the Oberlahnstein marshalling yard (125); 6 others hit
targets of
opportunity; no losses. Escorting are 158 of 169 P-51s; they claim
6-0-0
aircraft without loss.
3. 160 B-17s are dispatched to Koblenz but abort the mission due to
heavy
clouds. Escorting are 153 of 156 P-51s; they claim 7-0-0 aircraft
without
loss.
4. 133 P-47s and P-51s fly fighter sweeps over the Cologne, Kassel,
Meiningen, Mannheim and Frankfurt area; they claim 15-1-4 aircraft;
3 P-47s
and 1 P-51 are lost (pilots MIA) and 2 P-51s are damaged beyond
repair.
5. 28 of 30 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
Mission 735: 7 B-17s and 6 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands,
France
and Germany during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 210 A-20s, A-26s,
and
B-26s bomb areas of Saarlautern, Ensdorf, and Fraulautern; fighters
escort
the 9th Bombardment Division, fly armed reconnaissance over W
Germany
(targets hit include a marshalling yard and bridges), and support
the US 1st
Infantry Division at Luchem, 104th Infantry Division at Inden, and
8th
Infantry Division in the Brandenberger Forest-Tiefenbach Creek area.
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