|
||
The Mighty Eighth -Monday 22 January 1945 |
MONDAY, 22 JANUARY 1945 EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO) STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown. Mission 805: 206 B-17s and 258 fighters are dispatched to make visual attacks on the Holten synthetic oil plant at Sterkrade (167); 1 hits the secondary target, the marshalling yard at Rheine; targets of opportunity are Dinslaken (12), Osnabruck (5), Heiden (8) and other (4); 5 B-17s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 144 damaged; 13 airmen are WIA and 45 MIA. Escort is provided by 85 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 3-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground. Other fighter missions are: 1. 128 of 136 P-51s fly a sweep in the St Vith, Belgium-Karlsruhe- Darmstadt and Kobenz, Germany areas, some as escort for Ninth AF bombers; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 2. 10 of 11 P-51s fly a scouting mission. Mission 806: 1 B-17 and 8 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and France. TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): 304 B-26s, A-26s, and A-20s bomb a marshalling yard, railhead, and road and rail bridges in Germany with the aim of obstructing troop movement; fighters escort the 9th Bombardment Division, fly armed reconnaissance and sweeps and airfield cover, and support the US 7th Armored Division near Montfort, the Netherlands; the III, VIII, and XII Corps from S of Saint-Vith, Belgium along the battlefront to NW of Echternach, Luxembourg; and the 4th, 5th, 94th, and 95th Infantry Divisions from Echternach, Luxembourg S to just W of Saarlautern, Germany. In Belgium, HQ 70th Fighter Wing moves from Liege to Verviers. In France, the 514th Fighter Squadron, 406th Fighter Group, based at Mourmelon with P-47s, begins operating from Prosnes. |