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WEDNESDAY, 6 DECEMBER 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 741: 818 bombers and 830 fighters are dispatched to hit oil
and
rail targets in Germany; all except 9 aircraft bomb using H2X; 4
bombers and
1 fighter are lost:
1. 533 B-17s, in 2 forces, are sent to hit the Leuna oil plant at
Merseburg
(446); targets of opportunity are Hannover (16), Merseburg (14) and
other
(24); 4 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 172 damaged; 4
airmen are
WIA and 37 MIA. 12 of 12 B-17s fly a screening mission. Escorting
are 534
P-47s and P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA), 1 damaged beyond repair
and 1
damaged.
2. 112 of 119 B-24s hit the marshalling yard at Bielefeld; 1 hits a
target
of opportunity; 52 B-24s are damaged. Escorting are 94 of 104 P-51s
without
loss.
3. 140 of 154 B-24s hit Minden Aqueduct; 9 hit the Lockum rail
junction; 26
B-24s are damaged. Escorting are 91 P-47s and P-51s without loss.
4. 28 of 32 P-51s fly a scouting force mission.
Mission 742: 11 of the 4 B-17s and 11 B-24s drop leaflets in the
Netherlands, France and Germany during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 154 A-20s and
B-26s bomb
the defended areas of Munstereifel, Erkelenz, Nideggen, and Daun;
fighters
escort the bombers, fly armed reconnaissance and night patrol,
attack
bridges, gun positions, and other targets, and provide air cover for
the US
V, VII, and XII Corps in the areas of Sarreguemines, France and
Bergstein,
and Lucherberg, and along the Saar River, Germany.
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