The Mighty Eighth Air Force
 plane
1 November 1944
WEDNESDAY, 1 NOVEMBER 1944

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 696: 324 bombers and 321 fighters are dispatched to attack 2
synthetic oil plants near Gelsenkirchen and a bridge at Rudesheim, Germany;
1 P-51 is lost:
1. 142 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Norstern oil plant at Gelsenkirchen
(113); 23 hit the secondary, the Hamm marshalling yard; 1 hits a target of
opportunity; 24 B-17s are damaged; 1 airman is KIA. Escort is provided by 140
P-47s and P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA).
2. 143 of 144 B-24s hit the Buer oil plant at Gelsenkirchen; 25 B-24s are
damaged. Escort is provided by 109 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 1-0-0
aircraft; 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair.
3. 38 B-17s are dispatched to hit a railroad bridge at Rudesheim (13); 24
hit the secondary, a marshalling yard at Koblenz; 7 B-17s are damaged. Escort
is provided by 37 of 38 P-51s.
Mission 697: 3 B-17s and 5 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands during
the night.

TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): Weather prevents bomber operations;
fighters fly patrols, sweeps, armed reconnaissance over Belgium, E France,
and large areas of W Germany and attack bridges, railroads, and various other
targets.