This Day in . . .
303rd Bomb Group (H) History
May 7, 1943
8th AF: In England, Lieutenant General Jacob L. Devers is appointed Commanding General , U.S. Army replacing General Andrews who was killed in Iceland on Monday.
May 7, 1944
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 146
Target: Friedrichstrasse Railway Sta., Berlin, Germany (PFF)
Crews Dispatched: 36 plus 1 spare
Length of Mission: 8 hours, 30 minutes
Bomb Load: 3 x 1000 lb M-44 G.P. & 5 x 500 lb M-17 Incendiary
Bombing Altitudes: Group A 25,900 ft; Group B 25,000 ft
Ammo Fired: 1,840 rounds
View Mission Report
May 7, 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: Mission 342: In the morning, 922 bombers and 764 fighters are dispatched to bomb targets in Germany; 9 bombers and 4 fighters are lost; 1 Luftwaffe aircraft is claimed shot down: 1. 600 B-17s are dispatched on a PFF attack on Berlin; 514 bomb the primary and 39 hit targets of opportunity; 8 B-17s are lost, 2 are damaged beyond repair and 265 damaged; 8 airmen are KIA, 14 WIA and 83 MIA. 2. Of 322 B-24s dispatched, 147 bomb Munster and 165 bomb Osnabruck; 1 B-24 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 22 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 2 WIA and 6 MIA. Escort is provided by 153 P-38s, 317 P-47s and 284 P-51s; 2 P-38s, 1 P-47 and 1 P-51 are lost, 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair and 5 P-38s, 3 P-47s and 1 P-51 damaged; 3 pilots are MIA. In the afternoon, 29 of 67 B-24s bomb the marshalling yard at Liege, Belgium without loss; escort is provided by 24 P-47s and 51 P-51s without loss. Mission 343: 3 of 4 B-17s drop 1.6 million leaflets on 16 towns in C France without loss. 14 B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions without loss.
May 7, 1944
The US 8th Air Force launches a 1,500-bomber raid against Berlin.
May 7, 1945
Germany surrenders unconditionally.
May 7, 1945
The German High Command surrenders unconditionally all land, sea, and air forces at Reims, France effective 9 May 45. General of the Army Dwight D Eisenhower says, "The mission of this Allied force was fulfilled at 0241 local time, May 7,1945."
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: 2 missions are flown. Mission 984: 231 B-17s are dispatched to drop food supplies at Schipol (154) and Alkmaar (10) Airfields, Vogelenzang (25), W of Utrecht (28) and N of Hilversum (12), the Netherlands; a total of 426 tons of food are dropped. Mission 985: 15 B-17s, with 30 of 32 P-51s escorting, drop leaflets in Germany during the day.
May 6
May 8
