This Day in . . .
303rd Bomb Group (H) History
March 18, 1943
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 24
Target: Submarine Construction Yard, Vegesack, Germany
Crews Dispatched: 20
Crews Lost: Lt. C.N. Austin, 5 KIA, 5 POW
Length of Mission: 6 hours, 11 minutes
Bomb Load: 6 x 1000 lb H.E. M44 bombs
Bombing Altitude: 24,000 ft
Ammo Fired: 45,000 rounds
Enemy Aircraft Claims: 8 Destroyed, 5 Probables, 3 Damaged
View Mission Report
March 18, 1943
303rd BG: 1Lt Jack Mathis, 359th bombardier, died over his bombsight in the nose of the Duchess after dropping his bombs on Vegesack. He would later be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously.
March 18, 1943
8th AF: VIII Bomber Command Mission No. 45: 76 B-17's of the 1st Bombardment Wing and 27 B-24's of the 2nd Bombardment Wing are dispatched against the submarine yards at Vegesack, Germany; 73 B-17's and 24 B-24's drop 268 tons of bombs on the target at 1531-1535 local. Seven U-boat hulls appear severely damaged. This mission marks the first successful combat use of automatic flight control linked with bombsights. Our claims are 52-20-23; we lose 1 B-17 and 1 B-24; 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair; 9 B-17's and 14 B-24's are damaged; casualties are 1 KIA, 16 WIA and 20 MIA.
March 18, 1944
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 122
Target: Group A - Lechfeld Airdrome, Augsburg, Germany
Group B - Memmingen Airdrome, Germany
Crews Dispatched: 36
Crew Members Lost or Wounded: 1 crewman wounded
Length of Mission: 8 hours, 50 minutes
Bomb Load: 38 x 120 lb Fragmentation bombs
Bombing Altitude: 22,700 ft & 23,600 ft
Ammo Fired: 2,810 rounds
View Mission Report
March 18, 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: Mission 264: Aircraft plants and airfields in Germany are targetted; enemy fighters attack in force and AA fire is heavy; the bombers claim 45-10-17 Luftwaffe aircraft; 43 bombers and 13 fighters are lost; 1. 284 of 290 B-17s dispatched bomb the aviation industry at Oberpfaffenhofen, air depots at Lechfeld and Landsberg, Memmingen Airfield and targets of opportunity; 8 B-17s are lost and 102 damaged; casualties are 1 KIA, 9 WIA and 80 MIA. 2. 196 of 221 B-17s dispatched bomb Munich, the aviation industry at Oberpfaffenhofen, Lechfeld air depot and targets of opportunity; 7 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 80 damaged; casualties are 3 KIA, 4 WIA and 70 MIA. 3. 227 B-24s are dispatched to aviation industry targets at Friedrichshafen/Lowenthal (77 bomb), Friedrichshafen/Manzell (38 bomb) and Friedrichshafen/Zeppelin (52 bomb), the city of Friedrichshafen (22 bomb) and 9 hit targets of opportunity; 28 B-24s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 60 damaged; casualties are 6 KIA, 9 WIA and 286 MIA Escort is provided by 113 P-38s, 598 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 214 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s. Details are: 1. P-38s claim 11-2-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 are lost and 1 damaged; 4 pilots are MIA. 2. P-47s claim 2-1-3 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 6 damaged; 2 pilots are MIA. 3. P-51s claim 26-2-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; 6 are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 3 damaged; 1 pilot is WIA and 6 MIA. The fighters also claim 3-2-2 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground. Mission 265: 6 of 6 B-17s drop 300 bundles of leaflets on Cambrai, Lille, Paris, Amiens, Rouen and Caen, France at 2115-2139 hours without loss.
March 18, 1944
British drop 3000 tons of bombs during an air raid on Hamburg, Germany.
March 18, 1945
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 339
Target: Marshalling Yard at Berlin, Germany
Crews Dispatched: 39
Length of Mission: 8 hours, 32 minutes
Bomb Load: 5 x 1,000 lb H.E. M44 bombs
Bombing Altitudes: 26,500, 26,200, & 27,500 ft
View Mission Report
March 18, 1945
303rd BG: T/Sgt Joseph D. Lillis, 303rd BG radio operator, completed his 100th combat mission. He flew 76 missions against Japan before coming to the ETO, where he completed the rest of his missions. T/Sgt Lillis went on to complete 104 combat missions.
March 18, 1945
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: 2 missions are flown. Mission 894: 1,329 bombers and 733 fighters are dispatched to hit railway stations and tanks plants in the Berlin area; the attacks are made both visually and with H2X radar; the Luftwaffe makes its most concentrated and successful attacks with Me 262s to date; the AAF claims 21-1-5 Luftwaffe aircraft; 13 bombers (8 to flak) and 6 fighters are lost: 1. 421 of 450 B-17s hit the Schlesischer rail station in Berlin; 13 hit the secondary target, Zehdnuk; and 1 hits Vechta, a target of opportunity; they claim 6-0-0 aircraft; 5 B-17s are lost, 8 damaged beyond repair and 268 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 18 WIA and 49 MIA. 179 of 199 P-51s escort; they claim 4-0-2 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost. 2. 495 of 530 B-17s hit the Nord rail station in Berlin; targets of opportunity are Ludwigslust (3) and other (3); they claim 1-1-1 aircraft; 7 B-17s are lost, 6 damaged beyond repair and 319 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 12 WIA and 79 MIA. Escorting are 219 of 238 P-51s; they claim 7-0-1 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost. 3. 347 B-24s are sent to hit the Tegel (225) and Henningsdorf (80) tank factories in Berlin; targets of opportunity are Oranienburg (9), Uelzen (9) and other (3); 1 B-24 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 127 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 1 WIA and 11 MIA. The escort is 254 P-51s; they claim 3-0-1 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost. 4. 2 B-17s fly a scouting mission. 5. 27 of 30 P-51s fly a scouting mission. 6. 1 of 12 P-51s escort 5 F-5s on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. Mission 895: 10 of 12 B-24s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night without loss.
March 18, 1945
The US 8th Air Force carries out another heavy attack (1221 bombers and 426 fighters) against Berlin.
March 17
March 19
