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SATURDAY, 25 NOVEMBER 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 723: 1,043 bombers and 965 fighters are dispatched to hit
the
synthetic oil plant at Merseburg, Germany using H2X and a
marshalling yard; 8
bombers and 6 fighters are lost:
1. 671 of 766 hit the Leuna oil plant at Merseburg and 9 hit targets
of
opportunity; 8 B-17s are lost, 4 damaged beyond repair and 197
damaged; 7
airmen are KIA, 5 WIA and 64 MIA. Escort is 716 of 800 P-51s; they
claim
9-0-8 aircraft on the ground; 6 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1
damaged
beyond repair.
2. 254 of 271 B-24s hit the Bingen marshalling yard; 43 B-24s are
damaged;
1 airman is WIA. Escort is 129 of 130 P-47s.
Mission 724: 7 B-17s and 6 B-24s drop leaflets in France, the
Netherlands
and Germany during the night.
The 36th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), VIII Fighter Command starts
daily
operations as a screening force for the bombardment divisions; it is
assigned
the task of protecting the Eighth's primary VHF and
fighter-to-bomber
communications from interception during assembly; the increase of
flak
batteries around German military and industrial installations soon
compels
the 36th to increase radar countermeasures on each mission; the 36th
remains
on this assignment until the end of war in Europe
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In Germany, the 9th
Bombardment
Division hits an ordnance arsenal at Landau, road junctions, and an
ammunition dump at Neustadt and Kaiserslautern; fighters escort the
9th
Bombardment Division and Eighth AF, fly armed reconnaissance and
support
ground forces E of Aachen and between Merzig and Sarreguemines,
France. The
356th Fighter Squadron 354th Fighter Group, moves from Orconte to
Rosieres-en-Haye, France with P-47s.
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