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MONDAY, 11 DECEMBER 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 746: The largest number of bombers so far dispatched, 1,586,
and
841 fighters are sent to hit rail targets and bridges in W Germany
using PFF
means; 5 bombers and 2 fighters are lost:
1. 319 of 334 B-17s hit the marshalling yard at Frankfurt; 2 others
hit
targets of opportunity; 2 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 9
damaged.
Escorting are 167 of 181 P-51s without loss.
2. 297 of 353 B-24s hit the marshalling yard at Hanau; 5 hit the
secondary,
Karlsruhe, and 2 hit targets of opportunity; 4 B-24s are lost and 7
damaged;
36 airmen are MIA. Escorting are 143 of 159 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost
(pilot MIA)
and 1 damaged beyond repair.
3. 353 of 540 B-17s hit the marshalling yard at Giessen; 135 hit the
secondary, the marshalling yard at Koblenz; targets of opportunity
are
Euskirchen (12) and other (11); 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and
9
damaged; 2 airmen are WIA. Escort is provided by 349 P-47s and
P-51s; they
claim 0-0-1 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 1
damaged
beyond repair.
4. 171 of 182 B-17s hit bridges at Mannheim; 1 B-17 is lost and 18
damaged;
9 airmen are MIA. Escorting are 54 of 59 P-51s without loss.
5. 154 of 177 B-24s hit a bridge at Maximiliansau; 6 other hit the
secondary, the marshalling yard at Hanau; 8 B-24s are damaged; 2
airmen are
MIA. Escorting are 34 of 37 P-47s without loss.
6. 30 of 30 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
Mission 747: 3 B-17s and 8 B-24s drop leaflets in France, the
Netherlands
and Germany; 1 B-24 is lost.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 200+ bombers
dispatched
to bomb defended villages and storage areas are recalled because of
weather;
1 bomber manages to bomb a stores depot at Reichenbach; fighters
escort the
RAF, divebomb targets in cities, and support the US 3d Armored
Division in
the Echtz-Geich area, the 104th Infantry Division at Merken, the 9th
Infantry
Division at Merode and Derichsweiler, and the 83d Infantry Division
at Strass.
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