This Day in 303rd Bomb Group History: November 26th

glm@303rdbg.com (Gary L. Moncur) — 26 Nov 2025 22:00:39 -0000

November 26, 1943
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 83
Target: City area of Bremen, Germany
Crews Dispatched: 2 Groups, 17 & 18 crews
Crews Lost: Capt. A.A. Cote, 10 KIA; 2Lt. H.J. Rocketto,
T/Sgt. R.K. Roberts and 2Lt. L.S. Johnson all KIA
Length of Mission: 6 hours, 10 minutes
Bomb Load: 8 x 500 lb G.P. & 20 x M47A1 Incendiaries
Bombing Altitudes: 26,500 ft & 27,000 ft
Ammo Fired: 47,000 rounds
Enemy Aircraft Claims: 2 Destroyed

November 26, 1943
303rd BG: 2Lt Charles W. Spencer, 358BS bombardier, nearly lost his life in the blown-open nose of Star Dust. He later received the Distinguished Service Cross.

November 26, 1944
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 277
Target: Railroad Viaduct at Altenbeken, Germany
and Railroad Marshalling Yard at Osnabruck, Germany
Crews Dispatched: 58
Crews Lost: Lt. Jameson, 9 POW; Lt. Healy, 3 KIA, 2 POW, 5 RTD
Length of Mission: 6 hours, 25 minutes
Bomb Load: 6 x 1,000 lb H.E. M44 bombs
Bombing Altitudes: 23,600, 21,200, 19,300, 18,000 & 19,500 ft
Ammo Fired: 4,575 rounds

November 26, 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: 2 missions are flown. Mission 725: 1,137 bombers and 732 fighters are dispatched to make attacks on rail viaducts, marshalling yards and oil installations in W Germany; all but 1 attack is with radar; about 550 Luftwaffe fighters intercept and 34 bombers and 9 fighters are lost; the AAF claims 133-14-42 aircraft: 1. 406 B-17s are sent to hit an oil refinery at Misburg (243) and a rail viaduct at Altenbekin (118); 19 hit the secondary, the marshalling yard at Osnabruck; 3 others hit a target of opportunity; they claim 4-6-7 aircraft; 10 B-17s are lost, 4 damaged beyond repair and 160 damaged; 4 airmen are KIA, 6 WIA and 93 MIA. Escorting are 292 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 67-2-11 aircraft; 3 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 2 damaged beyond repair. 2. 350 B-24s are sent to hit the Schidesche rail viaduct at Bielefeld (240) and the Misburg oil refinery (57); targets of opportunity are Hannover marshalling yard (26) and other (1); they claim 12-5-4 aircraft; 21 B-24s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 53 damaged; 15 airmen are KIA, 6 WIA and 196 MIA. Escorting are 208 P-47s and P-1s; they claim 42-0-18 aircraft; 2 P-47s and 3 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 3. 381 B-17s are sent to hit the marshalling yard at Hamm (266); other marshalling yards hit are at Gutersloh (37), Bielefeld (36), Herford (24) plus 3 hit other targets; 3 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 86 damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 27 MIA. Escorting are 132 of 138 P-51s; they claim 3-0-1 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 4. 36 of 36 P-51s fly a scouting mission; they claim 5-1-2 aircraft without loss. Mission 726: 8 B-17s and 6 B-24s drop leaflets on France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night.