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WEDNESDAY, 1 NOVEMBER 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 696: 324 bombers and 321 fighters are dispatched to attack 2
synthetic oil plants near Gelsenkirchen and a bridge at Rudesheim,
Germany;
1 P-51 is lost:
1. 142 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Norstern oil plant at
Gelsenkirchen
(113); 23 hit the secondary, the Hamm marshalling yard; 1 hits a
target of
opportunity; 24 B-17s are damaged; 1 airman is KIA. Escort is
provided by 140
P-47s and P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot
MIA).
2. 143 of 144 B-24s hit the Buer oil plant at Gelsenkirchen; 25
B-24s are
damaged. Escort is provided by 109 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 1-0-0
aircraft; 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair.
3. 38 B-17s are dispatched to hit a railroad bridge at Rudesheim
(13); 24
hit the secondary, a marshalling yard at Koblenz; 7 B-17s are
damaged. Escort
is provided by 37 of 38 P-51s.
Mission 697: 3 B-17s and 5 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands
during
the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): Weather prevents bomber
operations;
fighters fly patrols, sweeps, armed reconnaissance over Belgium, E
France,
and large areas of W Germany and attack bridges, railroads, and
various other
targets.
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