The Mighty Eighth Air Force
 plane
6 December 1944
WEDNESDAY, 6 DECEMBER 1944


EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 741: 818 bombers and 830 fighters are dispatched to hit oil and
rail targets in Germany; all except 9 aircraft bomb using H2X; 4 bombers and
1 fighter are lost:
1. 533 B-17s, in 2 forces, are sent to hit the Leuna oil plant at Merseburg
(446); targets of opportunity are Hannover (16), Merseburg (14) and other
(24); 4 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 172 damaged; 4 airmen are
WIA and 37 MIA. 12 of 12 B-17s fly a screening mission. Escorting are 534
P-47s and P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA), 1 damaged beyond repair and 1
damaged.
2. 112 of 119 B-24s hit the marshalling yard at Bielefeld; 1 hits a target
of opportunity; 52 B-24s are damaged. Escorting are 94 of 104 P-51s without
loss.
3. 140 of 154 B-24s hit Minden Aqueduct; 9 hit the Lockum rail junction; 26
B-24s are damaged. Escorting are 91 P-47s and P-51s without loss.
4. 28 of 32 P-51s fly a scouting force mission.
Mission 742: 11 of the 4 B-17s and 11 B-24s drop leaflets in the
Netherlands, France and Germany during the night.

TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 154 A-20s and B-26s bomb
the defended areas of Munstereifel, Erkelenz, Nideggen, and Daun; fighters
escort the bombers, fly armed reconnaissance and night patrol, attack
bridges, gun positions, and other targets, and provide air cover for the US
V, VII, and XII Corps in the areas of Sarreguemines, France and Bergstein,
and Lucherberg, and along the Saar River, Germany.