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MONDAY, 9 OCTOBER 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 670: 1,110 bombers and 878 fighters are dispatched to make
PFF
attacks on industrial targets in S and C Germany; 1 bomber is lost:
1. 329 of 345 B-17s hit the secondary target, ball bearing plants at
Schweinfurt; 1 other hit a target of opportunity; 15 B-17s are
damaged.
Escort is proivded by 338 of 364 P-51s; 3 P-51s are damaged beyond
repair;
1 pilot is WIA.
2. 381 B-17s are dispatched to hit the marshalling yard at Mainz
(210)
and aircraft engine plant at Gustavsburg (148); 84 B-17s are
damaged. Escort
is provided by 202 Ninth AF P-38s and P-47s; 2 P-38s are damaged.
3. 360 of 384 hit the secondary, the marshalling yard at Koblenz; 1
hit a
target of opportunity; 1 B-24 is lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and
17
damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 10 MIA. Escort is provided by 271 of
295
P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft in the air and 1-0-0 on the ground.
Mission 671: 2 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands during the
night.
HQ 12th Bombardment Wing is inactivated at Marks Hall, England.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): HQ Ninth AF gives the
Tactical Air
Commands an initial attack list of 10 bridges on the US front; other
lists
follow. 30 9th Bombardment Division aircraft attack a rail bridge at
Euskirchen, Germany; fighters provide escort and fly uneventful
armed
reconnaissance; P-47s sent against airfields in Germany are recalled
because
of bad weather.
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