This Day in . . .
303rd Bomb Group (H) History
July 30, 1943
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 56
Target: Fiesler Aircraft Works, Uschlag, Germany
Crews Dispatched: 23
Crews Lost: 10 crewmen ditched, S/Sgt. Humphries killed
Length of Mission: 5 hours, 45 minutes
Bomb Load: 10 x 500 lb H.E. M43/ 2 a/c dropped 250 lb incendiary
Bombing Altitude: 25,720 ft
Ammo Fired: 78,885 rounds
Enemy Aircraft Claims: 10 Destroyed, 4 Probable, 1 Damaged
View Mission Report
July 30, 1943
8th AF VIII Bomber Command Mission Number 80: The aviation industry at Kassel, Germany is targetted for today: 1. 119 B-17's are dispatched to the Bettenhausen Fieseler Works; 94 hit the target at 0910-0917 hours; they claim 40-7-29 Luftwaffe aircraft; 6 B-17's are lost, 5 are damaged beyond repair and 64 are damaged; casualties are 11 KIA, 10 WIA and 52 MIA. 2. 67 B-17's are dispatched to the Waldau Fieseler Works; 40 hit the target at 0925-0928 hours; they claim 8-6-3 Luftwaffe aircraft; 6 B-17's are lost and 18 are damaged; casualties are 1 WIA and 45 MIA. 107 P-47's with auxiliary tanks escort these raids and they surprise the attacking Luftwaffe fighters over Bocholt, Germany as the enemy is not yet accustomed to fighter escort penetration beyond the coastal fringe. They claim 25-4-8 Luftwaffe aircraft; 7 P-47's are lost and 1 is damaged beyond repair; casualties are 6 MIA. VIII Air Support Command Mission Numbers 10A and 10B: 2 airfields are targetted: 1. 24 B-26B's are dispatched to the Woensdrecht Airfield, The Nether-lands; 11 hit the target at 0657 hours; 1 B-26 is lost, 1 is damaged beyond repair and 5 are damaged; casualties are 7 WIA and 6 MIA. 2. 24 B-26B's are dispatched to the Courtrai/Wevelghem Airfield, France but the mission is recalled because the escorting fighters are fog bound on the ground. In the 2 B-26 missions, the B-26 crews claim 6-5-1 Luftwaffe aircraft.
July 30, 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: HQ issues an order regularizing under the VIII Air Force Composite Command certain special and provisional units carrying out special tactical activities; this is a result of suggestion made on 2 Mar by Lieutenant General James H Doolittle, Commanding General 8th AF, that units engaged in CARPETBAGGER, H2X (blind-bombing), night leaflet, and weather missions be put under centralized control. Mission 505: 237 P-47s and P-51s fly sweeps of Evreux, St Quentin, Paris and Orleans, France claiming 3-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 9-0-0 on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot is MIA) and 3 P-47s and 2 P-51s are damaged. Mission 506: 1 B-17 is dispatched on a night leaflet mission but is recalled. 31 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions.
July 29
July 31
