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FRIDAY, 15 DECEMBER 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 750: 674 B-17s and 434 fighters are dispatched to attack
rail
targets and an armored car factory in Germany using H2X; 1 bomber
and 2
fighters are lost:
1. 318 of 334 B-17s hit the marshalling yard and tank factories at
Kassel;
5 others hit targets of opportunity; 6 B-17s are damaged beyond
repair and 11
damaged; 25 airmen are KIA and 1 WIA. Escorting are 268 of 296
P-51s; 2 P-51s
are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair.
2. 327 of 340 B-17s bomb the marshalling yard at Hannover and 6 hit
targets
of opportunity; 1 B-17 is lost and 7 damaged. Escorting are 241
P-47s and
P-51s without loss.
3. 19 of 24 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
Mission 751: 2 of 3 B-17s drop leaflets in France and Germany during
the
night.
SUPREME HEADQUARTERS, ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY FORCES (SHAEF): Major
Alton
Glenn Miller, s/n 0505273, Director of the USAAF band, boards a
UC-64A for a
flight to Paris. Miller's big band was one of the most popular prior
to WWII;
he enlisted in the AAF in 1942 and formed a band to entertain the
troops in
the ETO. Miller is on his way to Paris to make arrangements for a
Christmas
Show; he and the Flight Officer pilot takeoff, disappear in low
cloud and are
never seen again.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 300+ A-20s,
A-26s, and
B-26s hit defended positions, camp area, and oil storage at Heimbach,
Wollseifen, Harperscheid, Schonau, Ruthen, and Dorsel; fighters
escort the
9th Bombardment Division, hit supply and ammunition dumps and other
targets
during bombing attacks and armed reconnaissance, and support the US
2d and
99th Infantry Divisions in the area of Westwall fortifications, the
78th
Infantry Division at Kesternich, and the 8th Infantry and 5th
Armored
Divisions N of Kesternich; fighters support the XX and XII Corps in
the
Dillingen-Saarlautern area and at Habkirchen and heights along the
Blies
River.
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