This Day in . . .
303rd Bomb Group (H) History
January 22, 1943
8th AF: Twenty five Spitfire Mk Vs of the 4th Fighter Group support RAF Bostons on missions. We claim four enemy aircraft destroyed; one Spitfire is lost, one damaged beyond repair, one damaged and one pilot is MIA.
January 22, 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: HQ 457th Bombardment Group (Heavy) arrives at Glatton, England from the US.
January 22, 1945
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 306
Target: Synthetic Oil Plant at Sterkrade, Germany
Crews Dispatched: 26
Crews Lost: Lt. Woodson, 7 KIA, 2 POW
Crew Members Lost or Wounded: 6 WIA
Length of Mission: 5 hours, 47 minutes
Bomb Load: 10 x 500 lb H.E. M43 bombs
Bombing Altitudes: 24,400 & 24,300 ft
Ammo Fired: 4,500 rounds
View Mission Report
January 22, 1945
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: 2 missions are flown. Mission 805: 206 B-17s and 258 fighters are dispatched to make visual attacks on the Holten synthetic oil plant at Sterkrade (167); 1 hits the secondary target, the marshalling yard at Rheine; targets of opportunity are Dinslaken (12), Osnabruck (5), Heiden (8) and other (4); 5 B-17s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 144 damaged; 13 airmen are WIA and 45 MIA. Escort is provided by 85 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 3-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground. Other fighter missions are: 1. 128 of 136 P-51s fly a sweep in the St Vith, Belgium-Karlsruhe-Darmstadt and Kobenz, Germany areas, some as escort for Ninth AF bombers; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 2. 10 of 11 P-51s fly a scouting mission. Mission 806: 1 B-17 and 8 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and France.
January 21
January 23
