SUNDAY, 17 DECEMBER 1944

MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (MTO) STRATEGIC OPERATIONS (Fifteenth Air Force): 550+ B-17s and B-24s bomb oil refineries at Blechhammer N and S and Odertal, Germany, and Moravska-Ostrava, Czechoslovakia; marshalling yards at Gross Strehlitz, Germany, and Villach, Saak, Salzburg, and Wels, Austria. P-38s and P-51s escort the bombers, fly reconnaissance, strafe the railroad running from Rosenheim, Germany into Austria, and escort photo reconnaissance operations; enemy fighters appear in force for the first time since Aug 44; the AAF claims 55 air victories.

Blechhammer North Oil Refinery: 2nd, 97th, 99th, 301st, 483rd BGs, all B-17s

Blechhammer South Oil Refinery: 460th, 464th, 465th, 485th BGs, all B-24s

Gross Strehilitz Marshalling Yard: 454th BG, B-24s

Odertal (Synthetic) Oil Plant/Refinery: 451st, 454th, 455th, 456th, 459th, 461st, 484th BGs, all B-24s

Salzburg Marshalling Yard: 98th, 376th BGs, all B-24s

Wels Marshalling Yard: 449th, 450th BGs, all B-24s