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TUESDAY, 26 DECEMBER 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 762: Poor weather inhibits operations but 151 bombers and
336
fighters are dispatched to hit rail targets behind the Bulge; they
claim
11-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 fighters are lost:
1. 74 B-17s are sent to hit the railroad bridge at Neuwied (23) and
the
Andernach marshalling yard (9); secondary targets hit are the
marshalling
yard at Neuwied (12) and communications center at Sinzig (12); 1
B-17 hits a
target of opportunity, the communication center at Mayen; they claim
0-0-1
aircraft; 30 B-17s are damaged.
2. 77 B-24s are dispatched to hit the marshalling yard at
Niederlahnstein
(36) and the rail bridge at Sinzig (35) without loss.
3. The bombers are escorted by 249 P-47s and P-51s; they claim
11-0-0
aircraft without loss.
4. 70 of 73 P-51s make a sweep in the Bonn area to support the
bombers;
they claim 3-0-0 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1
damaged beyond
repair.
5. 2 of 2 P-51s fly a scouting mission without loss.
Mission 763: 3 B-17s and 6 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands
and
Germany during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): The 9th Bombardment Division
attacks
road junctions, rail bridges, rail head, communications and casual
targets in
the breakthrough area as the enemy's westward drive ends short of
the Maas
River; fighters fly escort, armed reconnaissance, sweeps, and
support the US
III and VIII Corps S of Bastogne, Belgium, as the US 4th Armored
Division
breaks the ring around the city.
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