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MONDAY, 2 OCTOBER 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
AIRBORNE OPERATIONS (IX Troop Carrier Command): In France, HQ 441st
Troop
Carrier Group and the 100th and 302d Troop Carrier Squadrons move
from
Villeneuve/Vetrus to St Marceau with C-47s.
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 4 missions are flown:
Mission 658: 887 B-17s and 549 fighters are dispatched to make PFF
attacks
on industrial targets at Cologne and Kassel, Germany; 2 B-17s are
lost:
1. 305 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Bettenhausen ordnance depot
at
Kassel (129); targets of opportunity are Kassel (143), Fritzlar
Airfield (12)
and other (1); 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair and 89 damaged; 5
airmen are
WIA. Escort is provided by 228 P-47s and P-51s without loss.
2. 458 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Henschel motor vehicle plant
at
Kassel (384); targets of opportunity are Wiesbaden (31), Gesecke (9)
and
other (17); 2 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 144
damaged; 16
airmen are KIA, 1 WIA and 20 MIA. Escort is provided by 219 P-47s
and P-51s
without loss.
3. 110 of 124 B-17s hit the Ford motor vehicle plant at Cologne; 1
B-17 is
damaged beyond repair and 36 damaged. Escort is provided by 53 P-47s
and
P-51s without loss.
Mission 659: 308 B-24s are dispatched to make a PFF attack on the
marshalling yard at Hamm (266); targets of opportunity are Handorf
Airfield
(29) and Munster (1); 2 B-24s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and
144
damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 18 MIA. Escort is provided by 212
P-38s, P-47s
and P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA), 2 damaged beyond repair and 1
damaged;
1 pilot is KIA.
Mission 660: 2 B-17s, escorted by 15 P-51s, drop leaflets on Dutch
islands
during the day.
Mission 661: 5 B-24s and 3 B-17s drop leaflets in the Netherlands,
France
and Germany during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): HQ XXIX Tactical Air Command
(Provisional) goes into operation along with the US Ninth Army (this
new
Tactical Air Command is formed from elements of the IX and XIX
Tactical Air
Commands); in Germany, the 9th Bombardment Division strikes the
industrial
area of Ubach and defended positions at Herbach; fighters fly armed
reconnaissance (and later night patrol) over Belgium, E France, and
W Germany
and support the US First, Third, and Seventh Armies in E France and
W
Germany. In Belgium, HQ IX Tactical Air Command moves advanced HQ
from
Janoulx to to Verviers maintaining the close association with the US
First
Army; HQ 368th Fighter Group and the 395th, 396th and 397th Fighter
Squadrons
move from Laon, France to Chievres with P-47s; the 428th, 429th and
430th
Fighter Squadrons, 474th Fighter Group, move from Peronne, France to
Florennes. In France, HQ 386th Bombardment Group (Medium) and the
552d, 554th
and 555th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium) move from Great Dunmow,
England to
Beaumont-sur-Oise with B-26s. In Luxembourg, the 161st Tactical
Reconnaissance Squadron, 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group, moves
from
Montrevil, France to Sandwieler with F-6s.
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