January 1945

The Mighty Eighth -Sunday 7 January 1945

SUNDAY, 7 JANUARY 1945

EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO)

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Eighth Air Force): 2 missions are flown.
Mission 785: 1,073 bombers and 700 fighters attack communications
centers, rail targets, bridges and an oil storage depot in W Germany using
PFF methods; 3 bombers and 1 fighter are lost.
1. 265 B-17s are dispatched but hit secondary targets, the marshalling
yard at Hamm (109), Paderborn (74) and Bielefeld (74); 2 hit a target of
opportunity; all attacks made using H2X radar; 5 B-17s are damaged.
Escorting are 197 of 204 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA).
2. 351 B-17s are dispatched to hit communications centers at Blankenheim
(39), Kall (39), Bitburg (110) and Euskirchen (75); 35 hit the Lutzel
Bridge at Cologne; all attacks made using Gee-H and H2X; 3 B-17s are damaged;
2 airmen are WIA. Escort is provided by 159 of 160 P-51s.
3. 147 B-17s are dispatched to hit the bridge at Hohenzollern (14) and
the highway bridge at Rodenkirchen (22); 80 hit the secondary target, the
Kalk marshalling yard at Cologne; targets of opportunity are Limburg (11),
Koblenz (11) and other (1); all attacks are made using Micro H and H2X; 2
B-17s are lost and 10 damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 19 MIA. The escort is 91
of 95 P-51s.
4. 304 B-24s are dispatched to hit the marshalling yards at Landau (54),
Zweibrucken (64) and Rastatt (99), the rail and communications center at
Achern (31) and the railway at Kaiserslautern (26); all attacks made using
Gee-H; targets of opportunity hit visually are Durrmenz (8) and Karlsuhe
(1); 1 B-24 is lost and 10 damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 9 MIA. Escorting
are 94 of 102 P-51s.
5. 6 of 6 B-17s fly a screening mission.
6. 88 P-47s and P-51s fly a fighter sweep without loss.
7. 12 of 12 P-51s escort 2 F-5s and 2 Mosquitoes on photo reconnaissance
missions over Germany.
8. 33 of 33 P-51s fly a scouting mission.
Mission 786: 2 B-17s and 5 B-24s drop leaflets during the night in SE
Belgium and France.

TACTICAL OPERATIONS (Ninth Air Force): XXIX Tactical Air Command
(Provisional) fighters escort VIII Bomber Command bombers. All other commands
and the 9th Bombardment Division cancel operations as the weather is bad.