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THURSDAY, 30 NOVEMBER 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 731: 1,281 bombers and 972 fighters are dispatched to hit
synthetic
oil plants in SE Germany and rail targets; intense accurate flak
downs 29
bombers and 3 fighters are lost:
1. 451 B-17s are sent to hit the Zeitz (132) and Bohlen (68) oil
plants;
116 hit the secondary, the Leuna oil plant at Merseburg; targets of
opportunity are Gotha (22), Gera (17), Rudolstadt (17), Fulda (12),
Saalfeld
(12), Ohrdruf (10), Meerane (6) and other (9); 11 B-17s are lost, 4
damaged
beyond repair and 287 damaged; 8 airmen are KIA, 16 WIA and 100 MIA.
Escorting are 357 of 384 P-51s; they claim 4-0-0 aircraft in the
air; 2 P-51s
are lost (pilots MIA).
2. 539 B-17s are sent to hit the Leuna oil plant at Merseburg (301)
and the
Lutzkendorf (169) oil plant; targets of opportunity are Zeitz oil
plant (19),
Weissenfels (9) and other (12); 17 B-17s are lost, 6 damaged beyond
repair
and 325 damaged; 17 airmen are KIA, 42 WIA and 295 MIA. Escorting
are 452
P-47s and P-51s; 2 P-51s are damaged beyond repair.
3. 291 B-24s are sent to hit marshalling yards at Neunkirchen (180)
and
Homburg (104). Escorting are 56 of 60 P-47s; 1 P-47 is lost (pilot
MIA).
4. 30 of 33 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
Mission 732: 7 B-17s and 6 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands
and
Germany during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
First Tactical Air Force (Provisional): The 415th Night Fighter
Squadron,
64th Fighter Wing, moves from Longvic to Ochey, France with
Beaufighters.
Ninth Air Force: In Germany, 288 B-26s and A-20s attack the defended
villages of Vettweiss, Stockheim, Erp, and Pirmasens, an armored
vehicle
repair center at Gemund, a rail tunnel, a military camp at
Malsbenden, and a
marshalling yard at Zweibrucken; fighters escort the 9th Bombardment
Division, give area support to Eighth AF heavy bombers at Leipzig,
fly
sweeps, dive bombing missions, and reconnaissance over W Germany,
and support
elements of the US VII Corps in the Hurtgen area (especially the
104th
Infantry Division at Lammersdorf and Inden). The 12th Tactical
Reconnaissance
Squadron, 10th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance), moves from St
Dizier to
Giraumont, France with F-6s.
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