22 January 1945

MONDAY, 22 JANUARY 1945

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 805: 206 B-17s and 258 fighters are dispatched to make visual
attacks on the Holten synthetic oil plant at Sterkrade (167); 1 hits the
secondary target, the marshalling yard at Rheine; targets of opportunity are
Dinslaken (12), Osnabruck (5), Heiden (8) and other (4); 5 B-17s are lost, 3
damaged beyond repair and 144 damaged; 13 airmen are WIA and 45 MIA. Escort
is provided by 85 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 3-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft on the
ground. Other fighter missions are:
1. 128 of 136 P-51s fly a sweep in the St Vith, Belgium-Karlsruhe-
Darmstadt and Kobenz, Germany areas, some as escort for Ninth AF bombers; 1
P-51 is lost (pilot MIA).
2. 10 of 11 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
Mission 806: 1 B-17 and 8 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and
France.

TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): 304 B-26s, A-26s, and A-20s bomb a
marshalling yard, railhead, and road and rail bridges in Germany with the aim
of obstructing troop movement; fighters escort the 9th Bombardment Division,
fly armed reconnaissance and sweeps and airfield cover, and support the US
7th Armored Division near Montfort, the Netherlands; the III, VIII, and XII
Corps from S of Saint-Vith, Belgium along the battlefront to NW of
Echternach, Luxembourg; and the 4th, 5th, 94th, and 95th Infantry Divisions
from Echternach, Luxembourg S to just W of Saarlautern, Germany. In Belgium,
HQ 70th Fighter Wing moves from Liege to Verviers. In France, the 514th
Fighter Squadron, 406th Fighter Group, based at Mourmelon with P-47s, begins
operating from Prosnes.