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MONDAY, 25 DECEMBER 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 761: 422 bombers
and 460
fighters are dispatched to hit communications centers and rail
bridges W of
the Rhine River; they claim 49-7-12 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 bombers
and 9
fighters are lost:
1. 248 B-24s are sent to hit communications centers at Hallschlag
(41),
Prum (40), Pelm (37), Murlenbach (33), Pronsfeld (16) and Wahlen
(12);
targets of opportunity are communications centers at Budesheim (21),
Hillesheim (12), Marmegen (11), Nettersheim (10) and Mechernich (9);
they
claim 3-1-3 aircraft; 4 B-24s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and
92
damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 4 WIA and 40 MIA. Escorting are 144 of
156 P-51s;
they claim 6-0-1 aircraft; 3 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 2
damaged beyond
repair.
2. 174 B-17s are sent to hit railroad bridges at Ahrweiler (44) and
Bad
Munster (9), the Kaiserslautern railroad (38) and the Hermeskeil
Simmern
communications center and Marscheid railroad bridge (36); targets of
opportunity are railroad bridges at Bad Kreuznach (17) and Eller
(11) and
other (1); they claim 0-0-1 aircraft; 1 B-17 is lost, 1 damaged
beyond repair
and 36 damaged; 9 airmen are MIA. Escorting are 278 of 294 P-51s;
they claim
40-6-7 aircraft; 6 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 damaged beyond
repair.
3. 10 of 10 P-51s fly a scouting missions without loss.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): Nearly 650 B-26, A-20s and
A-26s hit
rail and road bridges, communications centers and targets of
opportunity in W
Germany and the breakthrough area; fighters, including an Eighth AF
group
loaned to the Ninth AF, escort the 9th Bombardment Division, fly
patrols and
armed reconnaissance, and support the US III, VIII, and XII Corps
along the S
battleline of the enemy salient from Echternach, Luxembourg to NW of
Neufchateau, Belgium.
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