|
TUESDAY, 5 DECEMBER 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 3 missions are flown.
Mission 738: 589 bombers and 884 fighters are dispatched to make
attacks on
Germany; an estimated 275-300 Luftwaffe fighters attack and AAF
fighters
claim 90-7-30 aircraft; 12 bombers and 17 fighters are lost:
1. 451 B-17s are dispatched to make PFF attacks on munitions and
tank
plants at Berlin (404); targets of opportunity are Nienburg (2) and
other
(23); 12 B-17s are lost and 169 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 8 WIA and
115 MIA.
Escorting are 630 of 711 P-51s; they claim 90-7-23 aircraft in the
air and
0-0-2 on the ground; 15 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 damaged
beyond
repair.
2. 114 of 129 B-24s hit the marshalling yard at Munster; 10 B-24s
are
damaged. Escorting are 141 P-47s and P-51s; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots
MIA) and
1 P-47 damaged beyond repair.
3. 6 of 6 B-24s fly a screening mission.
4. 23 of 25 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
Mission 739 is an APHRODITE mission with 2 B-17 Castor drones, 3
B-17
control and observation aircraft, a P-38 observation aircraft and 17
of 17
P-51s as escort; the P-51s claim 1-0-0 aircraft.
Mission 740: 11 of the 4 B-17s and 8 B-24s dispatched drop leaflets
in the
Netherlands, France and Germany.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 172 A-20s, A-26s,
and
B-26s attack a marshalling yard, road junction, fuel storage dump,
defended
positions, and rail bridge at 8 locations; fighters escort 9th
Bombardment
Division aircraft, fly numerous armed reconnaissance missions, and
provide
cover for the US 1st, 8th, and 104th Infantry Divisions in the
Luchem,
Bergstein, and Lucherberg areas.
|
