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SATURDAY, 18 NOVEMBER 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 716: 402 fighters (47 P-47s and 355 P-51s) are dispatched to
strafe
oil storage depots in the Hanau and Ulm areas, airfields at Leipheim
and
Lechfeld, and miscellaneous ground targets in Germany; 374 actually
attack;
about 70 Luftwaffe fighters are encountered and the AAF claims
26-2-6 in the
air and 69-0-41 on the ground; 2 P-47s and 5 P-51s are lost (pilots
MIA) and
2 P-51s are damaged beyond repair.
Mission 717: 4 B-24s and 6 B-17s drop leaflets in Belgium, the
Netherlands
and France during the night.
HQ 92d Combat Bombardment Wing (Heavy) moves from Sudbury to Bury St
Edmunds, England.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): 340+ bombers of the 9th
Bombardment
Division strike barracks areas, rail bridges, rail facilities,
strongpoints,
and defended positions at 13 locations in Germany; fighters escort
the
bombers, fly sweeps and armed reconnaissance over W Germany, and
support
ground forces E of Aachen, Germany and in the Sarreguemines, France
area. In
France, the 355th Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group, based at
Orconte
with P-47s, begins operating from St Dizier.
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