This Day in 303rd Bomb Group History: February 28th

glm@303rdbg.com (Gary L. Moncur) — 28 Feb 2026 14:39:41 -0000

February 28, 1944
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 114
Target: Bois/Coqueral--"Crossbow" Targets (V-2 Rocket Sites)
Crews Dispatched: 23
Crews Lost: 1Lt. Shoup crew - 7 KIA, 2 EVD, 1 POW
Crew Members Lost or Wounded: 3 crewmen wounded
Length of Mission: 4 hours, 45 minutes
Bomb Load: 12 x 500 lb G.P. bombs
Bombing Altitude: 14,000 ft
Ammo Fired: 1,160 rounds

February 28, 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: Missions 237, 238 and 239 are flown today against targets in France; 7 B-17s are lost. Heavy clouds cause over half the bombers dispatched to return without bombing. Mission 237: 49 of 81 B-24s hit the Ecalles sur Buchy V-weapon sites; 1 B-24 is damaged. Escort is provided by 61 P-47s. Mission 238: 258 B-17s are dispatched against V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais; 109 hit the primary target, 10 hit a road junction E of Yerville, 7 hit a rail siding SW of Abbeville and 6 hit targets of opportunity; 7 B-17s are lost and 75 damaged; casualties are 5 WIA and 63 MIA. Escort is provided by 81 P-38s, 94 P-47s and 22 P-51s; 1 P-38 is damaged beyond repair; the P-51s claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground. Mission 239: 5 of 5 B-17s drop 250 bundles of leaflets on Amiens, Rennes, Paris, Rouen and Le Mans, France at 2023-2055 hours without loss.

February 28, 1945
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 326
Target: Marshalling Yard at Hagen, Germany
Crews Dispatched: 39
Length of Mission: 7 hours, 20 minutes
Bomb Load: 10 x 500 lb M43 & 2 x 500 lb M17 Incendiary bombs
Bombing Altitudes: 25,000, 24,000 & 26,000 ft
Ammo Fired: 1,000 rounds

February 28, 1945
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: 3 missions are flown. Mission 854: 1,104 bombers and 737 fighters are dispatched to make PFF attacks on rail targets in Germany; they calim 18-0-11 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 B-17 and 5 P-51s are lost: 1. 378 B-17s are sent to hit marshalling yards at Soest (143), Hagen (151) and Schwerte (74) using Gee-H; 1 other hits a target of opportunity; 1 B-17s is lost; 3 airmen are MIA. 106 of 112 P-51s escort without loss. 2. 346 B-24s are dispatched to hit the Arnsberg (95) and Bielefeld (81) viaducts, the Siegen marshalling yard (77) and the Henschel tank plant at Meschede (79); 1 other hits the Neustadt road junction, a target of opportunity; all attacks are made using Gee-H; no casualties. Escorting are 117 of 123 P-51s; 1 is lost (pilot MIA). 3. 364 of 380 B-17s hit the marshalling yard at Kassel, the secondary target; 6 others hit 6 targets of opportunity; the attacks are made using H2X radar; no casualties. The escort is 113 of 118 P-51s; they claim 0-0-1 aircraft in the air and 10-0-4 on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 4. 308 of 318 P-51s fly a strafing run in the Wurzburg-Munich area; they calim 8-0-6 aircraft on the ground; 3 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 5. 18 of 20 P-47s fly a figher-bomber mission against Ablar, Offenbach and Werdorf marshalling yards and factory buildings without loss. 6. 16 P-51s escort 4 F-5s and 1 Spitfire on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany. Mission 855: 11 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany during the night without loss. 1 Mosquito flies a SKYWAVE mission over Germany. (SKYWAVE is a special navigational mission to calibrate LORAN equipment.) Mission 856: 22 of 24 B-24s bomb the Freiburg rail depot during the night using PFF methods; no losses. The 36th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 1st Air Division [attached to 482nd Bombardment Group (Heavy)], moves from Cheddington to Alconbury, England with B-24s (the 36th is engaged in radio countermeasures operations).