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THURSDAY, 19 OCTOBER 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 683: 1,022 bombers and 753 fighters attack targets in
Germany using
PFF or GH; 6 bombers and 2 fighters are lost:
1. 381 B-24s are dispatched to hit the diesel engine and armored
vehicle
plant at Gustavsburg (50) and the Mainz marshalling yard (280) the
secondary
target; 5 B-24s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 148 damaged; 3
airmen
are KIA and 49 MIA. Escort is provided by 195 P-47s and P-51s; 1
P-47 is lost
(pilot MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair.
2. 217 of 267 B-17s hit the secondary target, Mannheim; 34 others
hit a
target of opportunity; 1 B-17 is lost and 97 damaged; 2 airmen are
KIA, 1 WIA
and 10 MIA. Escort is provided by 286 P-47s and P-51s; 1 P-51 is
lost (pilot
MIA).
3. 374 B-17s are dispatched to hit an artillery tractor plant at
Mannheim
(25); 257 hit the secondary, Mannheim; targets of opportunity are
Karlsruhe
(32), Kreuznach (10), Rudesheim (9), Bad Kreuznach (8), Steyer (2)
and other
(21); 182 B-17s are damaged; 2 airmen are KIA and 4 WIA. Escort is
provided
by 226 P-47s and P-51s; 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair.
Mission 684: 5 B-17s and 5 B-24s are dispatched to drop leaflets in
France,
the Netherlands and Germany during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): Weather prevents bomber
operations;
fighters attack a tank concentration E of Luneville, France, strafe
targets
NW of Kaiserslautern, Germany, fly reconnaissance in W Germany, and
provide
cover for US Third and Seventh Army forces in E France.
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