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SATURDAY, 7 OCTOBER 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 669: 1,422 bombers
and
900 fighters are dispatched to hit oil installations and armored
vehicle
plants in Germany; with one exception, bombing is visual; 40 bombers
and 11
fighters are lost:
1. 142 of 149 B-17s hit the oil refinery at Politz; 17 B-17s are
lost and
106 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 17 WIA and 171 MIA. Escort is
proivded by 93
of 108 P-51s; they claim 7-0-3 aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA).
2. 333 B-17s are dispatched to hit the oil refinery at Ruhland (59);
targets of opportunity hit are Zwickau Airfield (60), motor vehicle
facotry
at Zwickau (58), Dresden (30), Freiburg (24) and other (87); 3 B-17s
are lost
and 172 damaged. Escort is provided by 214 of 256 P-51s; they claim
12-0-0
aircraft in the air and 1-0-1 on the ground; 4 P-51s are lost
(pilots MIA), 1
damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged; 1 pilot is WIA.
3. 451 B-17s are dispatched to hit oil refineries at Merseburg/Leuna
(129),
Lutzendorf (88) and Bohlen (86); targets of opportunity are
Bielefeld (51),
Hameln (27) and Nordhausen Airfield (24); they claim 11-13-10
aircraft; 16
B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 240 damaged; 2 airmen
are KIA, 15
WIA and 149 MIA. Escort is provided by 250+ P-47s and P-51s; tehy
claim
10-0-1 aircraft; 1 P-47 and 1 P-51 are lost (pilots MIA), 1 P-51 is
damaged
beyond repair and 2 P-47s and 1 P-51 are damaged.
4. 489 B-24s are dispatched to hit an armored vehicle plant at
Kassel/
Henschel (122) and oil refineries at Kassel/Altenbauna (88),
Magdeburg/Buckau
(62) and Magdeburg/Rothensee (25); targets of opportunity are
Clausthal
(129), Bergen/Steinfort (10), Hengelo marshalling yard (4) and other
(6); 4
B-24s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 183 damaged; 2 airmen
are KIA, 6
WIA and 38 MIA. Escort is provided by 214 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s;
they claim
8-0-0 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-47 and 3 P-51s ar elost and 1 P-47
and 1
P-51 are damaged; 3 pilots are MIA.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): HQ Ninth AF cancels previous
instructions against bombing bridges and opens to attack all bridges
on the
US front, except those over the Rhine River. 300+ B-26s and A-20s
strike
bridges at Arnhem, the Netherlands and in Germany, bridges at Bullay
and
Dillingen, a supply depot at Euskirchen, and marshalling yard and
warehouse
at Hengelo and Trier; fighters fly bomber escort, sweeps and armed
reconnaissance in the forward areas, hitting railroads, barges, and
troop
concentrations, and support ground forces in E France and W Germany.
In
France, the 597th, 598th and 599th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium),
397th
Bombardment Group (Medium), moves from Dreux to Peronne with B-26s.
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