This Day in . . .
303rd Bomb Group (H) History
January 24, 1944
303rd BG: Mission to Frankfurt, Germany was recalled due to bad weather.
January 24, 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: Mission 191: 857 B-17's and B-24's are put into the air with intentions of bombing transportation and industrial targets at Frankfurt-Heddernheim, Frankfurt/Main and Russelsheim. Most bombers had trouble forming up in bad weather and only 563 of the 857 airborne were dispatched; all of the B-24's were recalled. Because of worsening weather all groups were recalled at 1020 hours but 58 B-17's bombed the Zukunft Power Station near Eschweiler; they claimed 1-0-3 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 B-17's were lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 5 damaged; casualties were 5 KIA and 21 MIA. Escorting were 101 P-38's, 535 P-47's and 42 Ninth Air Force P-51's; the fighters were assigned area patrol, protecting all bombers as they passed through their designated area but this was abandoned when the bombers were recalled; they claim 19-4-9 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 P-38's, 3 P-47's and 2 P-51's were lost and 6 P-47's were damaged; casualties are 9 MIA. The RAF and USAAF in the United Kingdom, agree to place most of the available P-51's in the 8th AF for long range escort of heavy bomber's. Eventually the Eighth is to be equipped almost exclusively with P-51's, with the P-38's and P-47's to be transferred to the Ninth Air Force.
January 24, 1944
The 8th AF issued a new recall directive, stating that no recall orders would be given by 8th AF Headquarters after the aircraft had crossed the enemy coast.
January 24, 1945
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: 67 of 70 P-51s based in Belgium are dispatched in 4 flights to fly sweeps over Wahn Airfield-Dorweiler area and Karlsruhe-Koblenz area in Germany, claiming 3 fighters downed; 1 P-51 is lost.
January 23
January 25
