This Day in . . .
303rd Bomb Group (H) History
December 22nd
December 22, 1943
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 91
Target: Railway Intersection at Osnabruck, Germany
Crews Dispatched: 20 plus 3 spares
Crewmen Wounded: 3 crewmen suffered frostbite
Length of Mission: 5 hours, 40 minutes
Bomb Load: 250 lb (British) Incendiary bombs
Bombing Altitude: 27,000 ft
Ammo Fired: 1,175 rounds
View Mission Report
December 22, 1943
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: VIII Bomber Command Mission 161: Marshalling yards at Osnabruck and Munster, Germany are targetted; 22 US bombers are lost. Heavy cloud conditions along with a malfunction of Pathfinder equipment result in a large number of heavy bombers failing to attack targets. 1. 147 of 225 B-17's, 87 of 121 B-24's and 2 PFF aircraft hit the Osnabruck at 1356-1434 hours; they claim 18-8-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 B-17's and 12 B-24's are lost; 2 B-17's and 1 B-24 are damaged beyond repair; and 21 B-17's and 11 B-24's are damaged; casualties are 6 KIA, 13 WIA and 160 MIA. 2. 164 of 177 B-17's, 30 of 43 B-24's and 3 PFF aircraft hit Munster at 1353-1417 hours; 3 B-17's and 2 B-24's are lost, 1 B-17 is damaged beyond repair, and 29 B-17's are damaged; casualties are 1 WIA and 50 MIA. The bombers are escorted by 40 P-38's, 448 P-47's and 28 Ninth Air Force P-51's; they claim 15-1-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 P-38's and 2 P-47's are lost and 1 P-47 is damaged; casualties are 4 MIA VIII Bomber Command Mission 162: 6 B-17's drop 1.212 million leaflets on Paris, Amiens, Chartres, Orleans and Rennes, France at 1942-2018 hours; no casualties. VIII Bomber Command Mission 163: 1 B-17 drops two 2,000 pound (907 kf) general purpose bombs and 1 Photoflash on Cologne, Germany at 2020 hours; no casualties. RAF light bombers attack numerous NOBALL (V-weapons) targets in France in conjunction with the Osnabruck-Munster raids.
December 22, 1944
303rd BG: 303rd BG: The annual Children?s Christmas Party was held at the Red Cross Club. Over 250 children from the surrounding villages attended.
8th AF history extracted from Jack McKillop's USAAF Combat Chronology
December 21
December 23