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SATURDAY, 4 NOVEMBER 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
AIRBORNE OPERATIONS (IX Troop Carrier Command): In France, HQ 439th
Troop
Carrier Group and the 93d Troop Carrier Squadron move from Lonray to
Chateaudun with C-47s; the 95th, 96th and 97th Troop Carrier
Squadrons, 440th
Troop Carrier Group, move from Le Mans to Orleans with C-47s; the
99th Troop
Carrier Squadron, 441st Troop Carrier Group, moves from St Marceau
to Dreux
with C-47s.
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 700: 1,160 bombers and 890 fighters are dispatched in 6
forces to
make PFF attacks on the oil industry in W Germany; 5 bombers and 2
fighters
are lost:
1. 228 B-17s are dispatched to hit the oil plant at Neunkirchen
(151);
secondary targets hit are the marshalling yards at Saarbrucken (35)
and
Neunkirchen (13); 5 B-17s are damaged. Escort is provided by 76 of
77 P-47s
and 50 Ninth AF P-51s without loss.
2. 210 of 222 B-24s hit the Misburg oil plant at Hannover; 3 B-24s
are lost
and 93 damaged; 28 airmen are MIA. Escort is provided by 371 P-47s
and P-51s;
they claim 0-0-1 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA).
3. 257 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Harburg oil plant at Hamburg
(238);
targets of opportunity are the aviation industry at Nordholz (9) and
other
(2); 9 B-17s are damaged. Escort is provided by 124 of 139 P-51s;
they claim
0-0-1 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 1
damaged beyond
repair.
4. 186 of 193 B-17s hit the Rhenania oil plant at Hamburg; 2 others
hit
targets of opportunity; 2 B-17s are lost and 61 damaged; 1 airman is
WIA and
18 MIA. Escort is provided by 110 P-51s without loss.
5. 91 of 119 B-17s hit the Welhun oil plant at Bottrop; 26 others
hit the
secondary, the marshalling yard at Hamm; 24 B-17s are damaged.
Escort is
provided by 37 of 40 P-51s; they claim 0-0-1 aircraft; 1 P-51 is
lost.
6. 133 of 141 B-24s hit Gelsenkirchen/Nordstern without loss. Escort
is
provided by 50 of 54 P-47s.
Mission 701: 3 B-17s and 6 B-24s drop leaflets in France, the
Netherlands
and Germany during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): In Germany, 218 B-26s and
A-20s hit
the Trier ordnance depot, Baumholder, and Eschweiler gun positions;
fighters
escort the 9th Bombardment Division, attack railroads, bridges, and
other
targets, and support the US XIX Corps in the Aachen area. In France,
the
556th, 557th, 558th and 559th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium), 387th
Bombardment Group (Medium), move from Chateaudun to Clastres with
B-26s.
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