This Day in 303rd Bomb Group History: October 7th

glm@303rdbg.com (Gary L. Moncur) — 07 Oct 2026 06:17:07 -0000

October 7, 1942
8th AF: In letter to Major General George E Stratemeyer, Chief of the Air Staff, Major General Ira C Eaker, Commanding General 8th AF, indicates plans for developing a highly-skilled intruder force capable of using bad weather as a cloak for small blind-bombing operations. These missions are also to serve the purpose of keeping the enemy from resting during periods of bad weather when big strategic missions cannot be flown.

October 7, 1943
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: VIII Bomber Command Mission 110. During the night of 7/8 Oct, 4 B-17's drop 240,352 leaflets over Paris at 2257-2307 hours; no losses or casualties.

October 7, 1944
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 253
Target: Marshalling Yards & Other Military Objectives
at Dresden, Germany
Crews Dispatched: 36
Length of Mission: 9 hours, 10 minutes
Bomb Load: 10 x 500 lb H.E. M43 bombs
Bombing Altitudes: 25,700, 25,380 & 25,000 ft
Ammo Fired: 1,120 rounds

October 7, 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: Mission 669: 1,422 bombers and 900 fighters are dispatched to hit oil installations and armored vehicle plants in Germany; with one exception, bombing is visual; 40 bombers and 11 fighters are lost: 1. 142 of 149 B-17s hit the oil refinery at Politz; 17 B-17s are lost and 106 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 17 WIA and 171 MIA. Escort is proivded by 93 of 108 P-51s; they claim 7-0-3 aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 2. 333 B-17s are dispatched to hit the oil refinery at Ruhland (59); targets of opportunity hit are Zwickau Airfield (60), motor vehicle facotry at Zwickau (58), Dresden (30), Freiburg (24) and other (87); 3 B-17s are lost and 172 damaged. Escort is provided by 214 of 256 P-51s; they claim 12-0-0 aircraft in the air and 1-0-1 on the ground; 4 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA), 1 damaged beyond repair and 1 damaged; 1 pilot is WIA. 3. 451 B-17s are dispatched to hit oil refineries at Merseburg/Leuna (129), Lutzendorf (88) and Bohlen (86); targets of opportunity are Bielefeld (51), Hameln (27) and Nordhausen Airfield (24); they claim 11-13-10 aircraft; 16 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 240 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 15 WIA and 149 MIA. Escort is provided by 250+ P-47s and P-51s; tehy claim 10-0-1 aircraft; 1 P-47 and 1 P-51 are lost (pilots MIA), 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair and 2 P-47s and 1 P-51 are damaged. 4. 489 B-24s are dispatched to hit an armored vehicle plant at Kassel/Henschel (122) and oil refineries at Kassel/Altenbauna (88), Magdeburg/Buckau (62) and Magdeburg/Rothensee (25); targets of opportunity are Clausthal (129), Bergen/Steinfort (10), Hengelo marshalling yard (4) and other (6); 4 B-24s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 183 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 6 WIA and 38 MIA. Escort is provided by 214 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s; they claim 8-0-0 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-47 and 3 P-51s ar elost and 1 P-47 and 1 P-51 are damaged; 3 pilots are MIA.