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
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