This Day in 303rd Bomb Group History: September 16th

glm@303rdbg.com (Gary L. Moncur) — 16 Sep 2025 08:00:45 -0000

September 16, 1942
8th AF: The VIII Air Force Services Command selects Honington and Watton, England as sites for Bomber Command advance depots; the site for the VIII Fighter Command awaits a final settlement of question of location and mission of the Fighter Command.

September 16, 1943
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 70
Target: Supply Ship in Loire River at Nantes, France
Crews Dispatched: 19
Length of Mission: 6 hours, 55 minutes
Bomb Load: 12 x 500 lb M-43 G.P. bombs
Bombing Altitude: 20,000 ft
Ammo Fired: 37,875 rounds
Enemy Aircraft Claims: 6 Destroyed, 1 Probables, 1 Damaged

September 16, 1943
8th AF: VIII Bomber Command Mission 97: 5 targets in France are hit: 1. 131 of 147 B-17's dispatched hit two targets in Nantes; 79 hit Nantes harbor installations at 1502-1512 hours and 52 hit Nantes/Chateau-Bougon Airfield at 1509-1512 hours; they claim 22-2-5 Luftwaffe aircraft; 7 B-17's are lost, 1 is damaged beyond repair and 47 are damaged; casualties are 9 WIA and 60 MIA. This mission is escorted by 79 P-47's; they claim 2-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft and suffer no losses or casualties. 2. 93 of 148 B-17's hit La Pallice harbor installations at 1755-1758 hours, Larochelle/Laleau Airfield at 1755-1758 and Cognac/Chateaubernard Airfield at 1731 hours; they claim 22-3-8 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 B-17's are lost, 5 damaged beyond repair and 17 damaged; casualties are 44 KIA, 9 WIA and 30 MIA. VIII Bomber Command Mission 98: 5 B-17's of the 422nd Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 305th Bombardment Group (Heavy), join the RAF in a night attack on the marshalling yard at Modane, France; there are no losses or casualties. VIII Air Support Command Mission 59: 67 of 72 B-26's hit the Beaumont le Roger Airfield at 1735 hours and Tricoueville Airfield in France at 1735 hours; 2 B-26's are damaged. HQ 40th and 41st Combat Bombardment Wings (Heavy) transfer from Brampton Grange to Thurleigh and Molesworth, England respectively.

September 16, 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: 2 missions are flown. Mission 635: 178 P-47s and 149 P-51s are dispatched to bomb and strafe the Hannover-Bremen-Osnabruck areas and bomb Ahlhorn Airfield and the Mannheim-Kaiserslautern area, all in Germany; they claim 6-0-1 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost and 10 damaged; 1 pilot is MIA. Mission 636: 7 of 9 B-17s drop leaflets in France, Germany and the Netherlands during the night. 32 B-24s and C-47s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions; 1 B-24 is lost.