This Day in 303rd Bomb Group History: March 31st

glm@303rdbg.com (Gary L. Moncur) — 31 Mar 2026 02:04:04 -0000

March 31, 1943
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 27
Target: Wilton Shipyards, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Crews Dispatched: 20
Crews Lost: Lt. James R. Dunn - 7 KIA, 3 injured in bail-out
Lt. Keith O. Bartlett - 8 KIA, 2 uninjured in bail-out
Length of Mission: 4 hours, 45 minutes
Bomb Load: 6 x 1000 lb H.E. M44 bombs
Bombing Altitude: 24,000 ft
Ammo Fired: 13,770 rounds

March 31, 1943
8th AF: VIII Bomber Command Mission No. 48: 78 B-17's and 24 B-24's are dispatched against the shipyards and dock area at Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The target is clouded and only 33 B-17's drop 99 tons of bombs at 1225 hours; we claim 1-1-2; we lose 3 B-17's and 1 B-24 plus 3 B-17's are damaged beyond repair and 4 B-17's and 1 B-24 are damaged; casualties are 16 KIA, 10 WIA and 10 MIA. The air echelons of the 414th and 415th Night Fighter Squadrons, AAF School of Applied Tactics arrive in England from the U.S.; the ground echelons are enroute to Algeria. Both squadrons will train with Beaufighters before moving to North Africa.

March 31, 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: HQ 486th Bombardment Group (Heavy) arrives at Sudbury, England from the US.

March 31, 1945
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 349
Target: Marshalling Yards at Halle, Germany
Crews Dispatched: 35
Length of Mission: 8 hours, 43 minutes
Bomb Load: 6 x 1,000 lb H.E. MkIII bombs
Bombing Altitudes: 25,000, 24,300, & 25,600 ft

March 31, 1945
303rd BG: Capt Willard H. Bergeron, 358th BS Operations Officer, was appointed Acting Commanding Officer, replacing Major Glynn F. Shumake.

March 31, 1945
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: Mission 920: 1,348 bombers and 889 fighters are dispatched to hit synthetic oil plants, a refinery, munitions plant and tank factory; they claim 9-3-9 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 bombers and 4 fighters are lost: 1. 229 B-17s are sent to hit the synthetic oil refinery at Zeitz using H2X radar; secondary targets hit are the oil plant at Bad Berka (29) and Gotha (20) visually; targets of opportunity are Erfurt (25) and other (8), hit visually; 3 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 108 damaged; 1 airman is KIA; 2 WIA and 30 MIA. Escorting are 117 of 120 P-51s; 1 is lost (pilot MIA). 2. 294 B-17s are sent to hit Brandenburg (265); targets of opportunity are Stendal (9) and Salzwedel (9); they claim 0-1-0 aircraft; 1 B-17 is damaged. 207 of 221 P-51s escort claiming 5-0-0 aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 3. 371 of 385 B-24s hit the secondary target, the marshalling yard at Brunswick; they claim 3-2-1 aircraft; 2 B-24s are lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 3 damaged; 10 airmen are KIA, 1 WIA and 29 MIA. The escort is 253 of 266 P-47s and P-51s; they claim 0-0-7 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA). 4. 369 of 432 B-17s attack the secondary, the marshalling yard at Halle; targets of opportunity are Leipzig (8), Weimar (36), Aschersleben (7) and other (1); 37 B-17s are damaged. Escorting are 225 of 233 P-51s. 5. 8 B-17s fly a screening mission. 6. 26 of 30 P-51s fly scouting missions; they claim 1-0-1 aircraft. 7. 19 P-51s escort 8 of 10 F-5s on photo reconnaissance missions.