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SATURDAY, 30 DECEMBER 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 770: 1,315 bombers and 572 fighters are sent to attack rail
and
communications targets in W Germany; 4 bombers and 2 fighters are
lost:
1. 526 B-17s are dispatched to hit marshalling yards at Kassel (314)
and
Mannheim (181); 9 other hit a targets of opportunity; 3 B-17s are
lost and 37
damaged; 24 airmen are MIA. Escorting are 301 of 325 P-51s; 2 are
lost
(pilots MIA).
2. 414 B-17s are sent to hit rail bridges at Bullay (72) and
Kaiserslautern
(72) and the marshalling yard at Bischoffsheim (35); secondary
targets are
the marshalling yards at Kaiserslautern (144) and Mainz (45); and 25
hit the
city of Kassel; 1 B-17 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 24
damaged; 12
airmen are KIA and 6 MIA. Escort is provided by 144 of 154 P-51s
without
loss.
3. 369 B-24s are sent to hit rail bridges at Altenahr (61),
Auskirchen
(91), and Irlich (58), the Irlich rail bridge (58), the Remagen
Bridge (57)
and the marshalling yard at Mechernich (87); 1 B-24 is damaged. The
escort is
63 of 72 P-47s without loss.
4. 6 of 6 B-17s fly a screening mission.
5. 20 of 21 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
Mission 771: 8 B-24s and 3 B-17s drop leaflet in the Netherlands,
Luxembourg and Germany during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): Weather forces the recall and
cancellation of the 9th Bombardment Division and IX Tactical Air
Command
missions; the XXIX Tactical Air Command (Provisional) flies armed
reconnaissance over the battle area and around Wallersheim, Germany
and the
XIX Tactical Air Command covers large areas of France, Belgium, and
Germany
hitting numerous ground targets and supports the US III, VIII, and
XII Corps
in the Saint-Hubert and Bastogne, Belgium and the Diekirch,
Luxembourg areas.
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