This Day in 303rd Bomb Group History: March 23rd

glm@303rdbg.com (Gary L. Moncur) — 23 Mar 2026 05:55:34 -0000

March 23, 1944
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 126
Target: Railroad Marshalling Yards, Hamm, Germany
& City area, Ahlem, Germany
Crews Dispatched: 27
Length of Mission: 6 hours, 15 minutes
Bomb Load: 12 x 500 lb G.P. & 42 x 65 lb M47A1 bombs
Bombing Altitude: 20,000 ft & 21,200 ft
Ammo Fired: 3,180 rounds

March 23, 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: Mission 275: 524 B-17s and 244 B-24s are dispatched to attack airfields in W Germany and aircraft factories in the Brunswick area; due to unfavorable weather conditions, only 68 B-24s hit a primary target and 639 bombers hit secondary targets and targets of opportunity; the bombers claim 33-8-11 Luftwaffe aircraft; 22 B-17s, 6 B-24s and 4 P-51s are lost; details are: 1. 205 B-17s hit Brunswick and 3 hit targets of opportunity; 16 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 221 damaged; casualties are 3 KIA, 6 WIA and 158 MIA. 2. 47 B-17s hit the secondary target at Munster, 83 hit Hamm, 67 hit Ahlen and 19 hit Neubeckum; 6 B-17s are lost and 56 damaged; casualties are 1 KIA, 3 WIA and 61 MIA. 3. 68 B-24s hit the primary target, Handorf Airfield; 36 hit Achmer City, 21 hit Achmer Airfield, 12 hit Munster, 52 hit Osnabruck and 14 hit other targets of opportunity; 6 B-24s are lost and 45 damaged; casualties are 1 WIA and 59 MIA. Escort is provided by 119 P-38s, 539 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 183 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51s; details are: 1. P-38s: no claims or losses. 2. P-47s claim 4-0-10 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-47 is damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged. 3. P-51s claim 18-1-6 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 P-51s are lost and 1 damaged; 4 pilots are MIA. The fighters also claim 2-0-10 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground. Mission 276: 5 of 5 B-17s drop 262 bundles of leaflets on Grenoble, Vichy, Lyon, Toulouse and Limoges, France at 2227-2304 hours without loss.

March 23, 1945
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 344
Target: Railroad Facilities at Gladbeck, Germany
Crews Dispatched: 39
Length of Mission: 6 hours, 10 minutes
Bomb Load: 35 x 150 lb G.P. bombs
Bombing Altitudes: 25,000, 23,900, & 26,000 ft

March 23, 1945
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: 3 missions are flown. Mission 908: The Allied ground assault across the lower Rhine River begins; 1,276 bombers and 499 fighters visually attack rail targets in W and C Germany; they claim 1-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 7 bombers are lost: 1. 319 B-24s are sent to hit the Rheine Bridge (79) and the Osnabruck (80) and Munster (142) marshalling yards; 2 others hit Hoya Airfield, a target of opportunity; 3 B-24s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 95 damaged; 1 airman is KIA, 3 WIA and 35 MIA. Escorting are 79 of 80 P-51s. 2. 519 B-17s are sent to hit marshalling yards Hengstey (113), Giesecke (91), Holzwickede (184) and the Unna yard at Dormund (38); secondary targets hit are Meschede (19) and marshalling yards at Siegen (93) and Marburg (10); targets of opportunity are Herdecke (10), Haliger (1) and Schwerte (10); 3 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 178 damaged; 6 airmen are KIA, 4 WIA and 27 MIA. 82 P-51s escort. 3. 438 B-17s are dispatched to hit marshalling yards at Coesfeld (145), Recklinghausen (120) and Gladbeck (141); targets of opportunity are Hechfeldt (12) and the marshalling yard at Westerholt (13); 1 B-17 is lost; 3 airmen are WIA and 10 MIA. The escort is 71 of 79 P-51s. 4. 125 of 131 P-51s fly a fighter sweep of the Bremen-Kassel area; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft in the air and 0-0-1 on the ground. 5. 71 of 84 P-51s fly a sweep for the Ninth AF. 6. 16 P-51s escort 15 F-5s and 4 Spitfires on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. 7. 25 of 27 P-51s fly weather reconnaissance missions. Mission 909: 1 B-17, escorted by 4 P-51s, bombs Ettinghausen Airfield in a Micro-H Mk II radar test. Mission 910: During the night, 9 of 10 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany; and 19 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions to Denmark.