This Day in . . .
303rd Bomb Group (H) History
December 15, 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: 2 missions are flown. Mission 750: 674 B-17s and 434 fighters are dispatched to attack rail targets and an armored car factory in Germany using H2X; 1 bomber and 2 fighters are lost: 1. 318 of 334 B-17s hit the marshalling yard and tank factories at Kassel; 5 others hit targets of opportunity; 6 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 11 damaged; 25 airmen are KIA and 1 WIA. Escorting are 268 of 296 P-51s; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 2. 327 of 340 B-17s bomb the marshalling yard at Hannover and 6 hit targets of opportunity; 1 B-17 is lost and 7 damaged. Escorting are 241 P-47s and P-51s without loss. 3. 19 of 24 P-51s fly a scouting mission. Mission 751: 2 of 3 B-17s drop leaflets in France and Germany during the night.
December 15, 1944
Band Leader Major Alton Glenn Miller, Commanding Officer of the AAF Band, was lost on a flight from England to France. His body was never recovered.
December 14
December 16
