The Mighty Eighth Air Force
 plane
25 November 1944
SATURDAY, 25 NOVEMBER 1944

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 723: 1,043 bombers and 965 fighters are dispatched to hit the
synthetic oil plant at Merseburg, Germany using H2X and a marshalling yard; 8
bombers and 6 fighters are lost:
1. 671 of 766 hit the Leuna oil plant at Merseburg and 9 hit targets of
opportunity; 8 B-17s are lost, 4 damaged beyond repair and 197 damaged; 7
airmen are KIA, 5 WIA and 64 MIA. Escort is 716 of 800 P-51s; they claim
9-0-8 aircraft on the ground; 6 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 damaged
beyond repair.
2. 254 of 271 B-24s hit the Bingen marshalling yard; 43 B-24s are damaged;
1 airman is WIA. Escort is 129 of 130 P-47s.
Mission 724: 7 B-17s and 6 B-24s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands
and Germany during the night.
The 36th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), VIII Fighter Command starts daily
operations as a screening force for the bombardment divisions; it is assigned
the task of protecting the Eighth's primary VHF and fighter-to-bomber
communications from interception during assembly; the increase of flak
batteries around German military and industrial installations soon compels
the 36th to increase radar countermeasures on each mission; the 36th remains
on this assignment until the end of war in Europe

TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In Germany, the 9th Bombardment
Division hits an ordnance arsenal at Landau, road junctions, and an
ammunition dump at Neustadt and Kaiserslautern; fighters escort the 9th
Bombardment Division and Eighth AF, fly armed reconnaissance and support
ground forces E of Aachen and between Merzig and Sarreguemines, France. The
356th Fighter Squadron 354th Fighter Group, moves from Orconte to
Rosieres-en-Haye, France with P-47s.