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TUESDAY, 12 DECEMBER 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 748: 895 bombers and 928 fighters are dispatched to make a
H2X
attack on Merseburg, Germany and visual attacks on rail targets in
Germany; 4
bombers and 7 fighters are lost:
1. 337 of 380 B-17s hit the Leuna synthetic oil plant at Merseburg,
10 hit
the secondary, Nordhausen and 12 hit targets of opportunity; 1 B-17
is lost
and 25 damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 10 MIA. Escorting are 392 of 447
P-51s;
they claim 0-0-1 aircraft on the ground; 7 P-51s are lost (6 pilots
MIA) and
2 damaged beyond repair.
2. 378 B-24s are sent to hit the Hanau (270) and Aschaffenburg (69)
marshalling yards; 17 hit the secondary, Gelnhausen and 8 hit a last
resort
target, the marshalling yard at Friedburg; 3 B-24s are lost and 45
damaged;
11 airmen are KIA and 20 MIA. Escorting are 193 P-47s and P-51s; 1
P-47 is
damaged beyond repair.
3. 461 of 497 B-17s hit the marshalling yard at Darmstadt, 9 hit a
last
resort target, Dieburg and 4 hit a target of opportunity; 2 B-17s
are damaged
beyond repair and 7 damaged. Escort is provided by 214 P-47s and
P-51s
without loss.
4. 15 of 20 B-17s and B-24s fly a screening mission.
5. 32 of 32 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
Mission 749: 7 B-24s and 4 B-17s drop leaflets in France, the
Netherlands
and Germany during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 90 B-26s and
A-20s
strike the defended villages of Gemund, Harperscheid, Hellenthal,
Schleiden,
Schoneseiffen, and Wollseifen, and the towns of Dorsel, Mayen, and
Wiesbaden;
fighters fly armed reconnaissance and strafing and bombing missions
in W
Germany and support the US 83d Infantry Division in the Strass-Gey
area,
cover the VII Corps in the Duren area and support the XII and XX
Corps in the
Habkirchen and Bliesbruck areas (the 35th Infantry Division assault
across
the Blies River) and Saarlautern-Dillengen.
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