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TUESDAY, 26 SEPTEMBER 1944
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): Mission 648: 1,159 bombers
and 432
fighters are dispatched to hit rail targets and armored vehicle
factories in
W Germany; 9 bombers and 2 fighters are lost:
1. 422 B-17s are dispatched to hit the marshalling yard and steel
industry
at Osnabruck (383); other targets hit are Rheine Airfield (10),
Hesepe
Airfield (3) and others (4): 2 B-17s are lost and 101 damaged; 2
airmen are
KIA, 2 WIA and 18 MIA. Escort is provided by 134 of 144 P-51s; they
claim
2-0-3 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair.
2. 274 of 317 hit the marshalling yard at Hamm and 1 hits Liesborn;
3 B-24s
are lost and 53 damaged; 31 airmen are MIA. Escort is provided by
138 of 146
P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA).
3. 420 B-17s are dispatched to hit armored vehicle factories at
Bremen
(381); other targets hit are Bremerhaven (13) and other (1); 4 B-17s
are lost
and 208 damaged; 10 airmen are WIA and 21 MIA. Escort is provided by
133 of
142 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 2 damaged beyond repair.
Mission 649: 3 B-24s and 6 B-17s drop leaflets in France, the
Netherlands
and Germany during the night.
320 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s (P-38s from Ninth Air Force) support the
First
Allied Airborne Army in the Netherlands; they claim 32-1-8 aircraft
in the
air; 1 P-38 is lost (pilot MIA), 1 P-47 is damaged beyond repair and
5 P-47s
and 4 P-51s are damaged.
165 B-24s fly a TRUCKIN' mission carrying fuel to France.
HQ 361st Fighter Group moves from Bottisham to Little Walden,
England.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): No bomber missions are flown.
In
Germany, IX Tactical Air Command supports the US First Army in the
Bonn area
and cuts rail lines W of the Rhine River; XIX Tactical Air Command
hits
fortifications near Metz. In Belgium, HQ 370th Fighter Group and the
402d and
485th Fighter Squadrons move from Roye/Amy, France to Florennes/Juxaine
with
P-38s. In France, the 23d Fighter Squadron, 36th Fighter Group,
moves from Le
Mans to Athis with P-47s; the 404th Fighter Squadron, 371st Fighter
Group,
moves from Perthes to Dole/Tavaux with P-47s; the 646th Bombardment
Squadron
(Light), 410th Bombardment Group (Light), moves from Gosfield,
England to
Coulommiers with A-20s.
US STRATEGIC AIR FORCES IN EUROPE (USSTAF): HQ USSTAF moves from
Bushy
Park, England to St-Germain-en-Laye, France.
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