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THURSDAY, 5 OCTOBER 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
AIRBORNE OPERATIONS (IX Troop Carrier Command): HQ 442d Troop
Carrier Group
and the 303d and 304th Troop Carrier Squadrons move from Weston
Zoyland,
England to Bonnetable and Peray, France respectfully, with C-47s.
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): General Order 507
implements the
decision of 15 Sep to assign staff officers of HQ VIII Fighter
Command to HQ
Eighth AF to represent units in administrative functions, thus
eliminating
the administrative and operational control from HQ VIII Fighter
Command and
placing it under HQ Eighth AF; this is necessitated by the transfer
of
fighter groups to Bombardment Divisions. 2 missions are flown:
Mission 665: 1,090 bombers and 733 fighters are dispatched to hit
industrial targets, airfields and railways in W Germany; 9 bombers
and 5
fighters are lost:
1. 348 B-17s dispatched hit targets of opportunity at Cologne (248),
Brechten (27), Dortmund (14) and Coblenz (11) using GH and H2X; 3
B-17s are
lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 156 damaged; 1 airman is KIA and
16 MIA.
Escort is provided by 181 of 193 P-51s; 3 P-51s are lost (pilots
MIA).
2. 360 B-24s are dispatched to hit Lippstadt Airfield (175), Rheine
marshalling yard (107) and Paderborn Airfield (28) visually; targets
of
opportunity hit are Herford marshalling yard (8) and Lipperode
Airfield (2);
1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 7 damaged. Escort is provided by
260
P-47s and P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft in the air and 15-0-7 on
the
ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 3 P-47s and 1 P-51 damaged.
3. 382 B-17s are dispatched to hit Munster/Loddenheide Airfield
(235) and
Munster/Handorf Airfield (68) using PFF means; targets of
opportunity hit are
the Rheine marshalling yard (10) and other (2); 6 B-17s are lost, 1
damaged
beyond repair and 190 damaged; 6 airmen are WIA and 55 MIA. Escort
is
provided by 234 P-47s and P-51s without loss.
Mission 666: 8 of 10 bombers drop leaflets in France, the
Netherlands and
Germany during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): 330+ B-26s and A-20s
dispatched
against targets in Arnhem, the Netherlands and Aldenhoven and Duren,
Germany
are recalled; fighters hit pillboxes along the Westwall, support
ground
forces of the XV Corps in France, fly armed reconnaissance in the
Prum, Bonn,
Koblenz, Trier and Landau, Germany areas, hit targets along the
Rhine-Marne
Canal, and during the night of 5/6 Oct fly patrol in Belgium, E
France, and W
Germany. In Belgium, the 493d Fighter Squadron, 48th Fighter Group,
moves
from Cambrai/Niergnies, France to St Trond with P-47s. In France,
the 22d
Fighter Squadron, 36th Fighter Group, moves from Athis to Juvincourt
with
P-47s.
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