This Day in . . .
303rd Bomb Group (H) History
January 7, 1944
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 97
Target: I.G. Farben Chemical Works at Ludwigshafen, Ger.
Crews Dispatched: 36
Length of Mission: 7 hours, 15 minutes
Bomb Load: 12 x or 6 x 500 lb G.P. bombs, 1 B-17 carried "Nickels"
Bombing Altitude: Lead Group 25,000 ft - Low Group 24,000 ft
Ammo Fired: 2,170 rounds
View Mission Report
January 7, 1944
303rd BG: "Hell's Angels" became the official name of the 303rd BG (H).
January 7, 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: 351 of 382 B-17's and 69 of 120 B-24's hit the I G Faren Industrie plant at Ludwigshafen, Germany; they claim 30-6-17 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 B-17's and 17 B-24's are lost, 2 B-17's and 2 B-24's are damaged beyond repair and 104 B-17's and 18 B-24's are damaged; casualties are 14 KIA, 13 WIA and 121 MIA. 71 P-38's, 463 P-47's and 37 Ninth Air Force P-51's escort; they claim 7-0-3 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-38 and 5 P-47's are lost and 1 P-47 is damaged; casualties are 6 MIA. Mission 179: During the evening, 5 B-17's drop 1.08 million leaflets on Paris, Chartres, Caen and Evreux, France without loss.
January 7, 1945
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 298B
Target: Railroad Junction at Kall, Germany
Crews Dispatched: 39
Length of Mission: 6 hours, 10 minutes
Bomb Load: 12 x 500 lb H.E. M43 bombs
Bombing Altitudes: 23,000, 22,200, & 23,000 ft
Ammo Fired: 5,000 rounds
View Mission Report
January 7, 1945
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: 2 missions are flown. Mission 785: 1,073 bombers and 700 fighters attack communications centers, rail targets, bridges and an oil storage depot in W Germany using PFF methods; 3 bombers and 1 fighter are lost. 1. 265 B-17s are dispatched but hit secondary targets, the marshalling yard at Hamm (109), Paderborn (74) and Bielefeld (74); 2 hit a target of opportunity; all attacks made using H2X radar; 5 B-17s are damaged. Escorting are 197 of 204 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 2. 351 B-17s are dispatched to hit communications centers at Blankenheim (39), Kall (39), Bitburg (110) and Euskirchen (75); 35 hit the Lutzel Bridge at Cologne; all attacks made using Gee-H and H2X; 3 B-17s are damaged; 2 airmen are WIA. Escort is provided by 159 of 160 P-51s. 3. 147 B-17s are dispatched to hit the bridge at Hohenzollern (14) and the highway bridge at Rodenkirchen (22); 80 hit the secondary target, the Kalk marshalling yard at Cologne; targets of opportunity are Limburg (11), Koblenz (11) and other (1); all attacks are made using Micro H and H2X; 2 B-17s are lost and 10 damaged; 1 airman is KIA and 19 MIA. The escort is 91 of 95 P-51s. 4. 304 B-24s are dispatched to hit the marshalling yards at Landau (54), Zweibrucken (64) and Rastatt (99), the rail and communications center at Achern (31) and the railway at Kaiserslautern (26); all attacks made using Gee-H; targets of opportunity hit visually are Durrmenz (8) and Karlsuhe (1); 1 B-24 is lost and 10 damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 9 MIA. Escorting are 94 of 102 P-51s. 5. 6 of 6 B-17s fly a screening mission. 6. 88 P-47s and P-51s fly a fighter sweep without loss. 7. 12 of 12 P-51s escort 2 F-5s and 2 Mosquitoes on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. 8. 33 of 33 P-51s fly a scouting mission. Mission 786: 2 B-17s and 5 B-24s drop leaflets during the night in SE Belgium and France.
January 6
January 8
