This Day in . . .
303rd Bomb Group (H) History
January 29, 1943
8th AF: Six Spitfire Mk Vs of the 4th Fighter Group fly an uneventful defensive patrol.A 93rd Bombardment Group (Heavy) B-24 attempts a Moling mission.
January 29, 1944
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 101
Target: City area, Frankfurt, Germany (PFF Bombing)
Crews Dispatched: 39
Crews Lost: 1 crew, Lt. Fowler, 10 Crew Members
Length of Mission: 7 hours, 5 minutes
Bomb Load: 10 x 500 lb G.P. bombs
Altitude: Both Groups at 25,000 ft
Ammo Fired: 3,100 rounds
First mission of B-17G 42-38050 ThunderBird. Pilot was 2Lt Vern L. Moncur.
View Mission Report
January 29, 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: Mission 198: Led by PFF aircraft, 675 B-17's and 188 B-24's are dispatched to hit the industrial area at Frankfurt, Germany; 590 B-17's and 170 B-24's hit the primary target; 46 B-17's bomb Ludwigshafen due to a deviation from planned bomb route; they claim 75-27-48 Luftwaffe aircraft; 24 B-17's and 5 B-24's are lost, 2 B-17's and 3 B-24's are damaged beyond repair and 116 B-17's and 19 B-24's are damaged; casualties are 22 KIA, 32 WIA and 299 MIA. Escort is 89 P-38's, 503 P-47's and 40 Ninth Air Force P-51's; they claim 47-6-14 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 P-38's and 10 P-47's are lost, 1 P-38 is damaged beyond repair and 3 P-38's and 1 P-47 are damaged; casualties are 14 MIA. This is first 8th AF mission in which more than 700 aircraft attack targets. Mission 199: During the evening, 5 of 5 B-17's drop 1.2 million leaflets on Lille, Tours, Lorient, Nantes and Valenciennes, France without loss. HQ 458th Bombardment Group (Heavy) arrives at Horshal St Faith, England from the US.
January 29, 1945
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 309
Target: Railroad Marshalling Yard at Siegen, Germany
Crews Dispatched: 26
Length of Mission: 6 hours, 52 minutes
Bomb Load: 12 x 500 lb H.E. M43 bombs
Bombing Altitudes: 23,950 & 22,850 ft
Ammo Fired: 970 rounds
View Mission Report
January 29, 1945
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: 2 missions are flown. Mission 811: 1,158 bombers and 700 fighters are dispatched to hit industrial plants at Kassel and rail targets in C Germany; the attacks were made using H2X radar; they claim 6-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-24 and 2 P-51s are lost: 1. 415 B-17s are sent to hit rail centers at Niederlahnstein (110) and Siegen (144); 104 hit the secondary, the Mosel marshalling yard at Koblenz; 37 hit the marshalling yard at Bad Kreuznach, a target of opportunity; 4 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 7 damaged. Escorting are 235 of 254 P-51s; they claim 1-0-1 aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost and 1 damaged beyond repair; 1 pilot is KIA. 2. 386 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Henschel oil plant at Kassel (93); 154 hit the secondary, the Kassel marshalling yard; targets of opportunity are the Bielefeld marshalling yard (76), Koblenz (35) and other (2); 2 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 28 damaged; 18 airmen are KIA and 1 WIA. The escort is 207 of 224 P-51s; they claim 4-0-1 aircraft; 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair. 3. 357 B-24s dispatched hit secondary targets, the marshalling yards at Munster (206) and Hamm (124); 9 others hit the Soest marshalling yard, a target of opportunity; 1 B-24 is lost and 18 damaged; 9 airmen are MIA. 173 P-47s and P-51s escort; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 4. 23 of 27 P-51s fly a scouting mission without loss. Mission 812: 1 B-17 and 8 B-24s drop leaflets in Germany and the Netherlands during the night.
January 28
January 30
