This Day in 303rd Bomb Group History: February 6th

glm@303rdbg.com (Gary L. Moncur) — 06 Feb 2026 16:50:35 -0000

February 6, 1943
8th AF: Six Spitfire Mk Vs of the 4th Fighter Group fly uneventful shipping patrols.

February 6, 1944
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 106
Target: Dijon/Lonvic Airdrome, Dijon, France
Crews Dispatched: 20 plus 2 spares
Crews Lost: 1 crew, Lt. J.S. Bass, 1 KIA, 9 POW
Crew Members Lost or Wounded: Co-pilot Lt. C.G. Doering KIA
Length of Mission: 7 hours, 10 minutes
Bomb Load: 6 or 12 500 lb M43 type bombs
Bombing Altitude: 15,500 ft
Ammo Fired: 425 rounds

February 6, 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: Mission 212: Airfields in France are targetted but weather forces 400+ bombers to abort the mission. 189 B-17s are dispatched against the Romilly-sur-Seine Air Depot and 60 hit St Andre de L'Eure Airfield and 40 hit Evreux/Fauville Airfield; 303 B-17s are dispatched to Nancy/Essay and Dijon/Longvic Airfields but only 60 hit Caen/Carpiquet Airfield; 150 B-24s are dispatched to St Pol/Siracourt V-weapon site but 37 hit Chateaudun Airfield and 9 hit the Eclimeux V-weapon site; they claim 3-3-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 B-17s are lost, 1 B-17 and 1 B-24 are damaged beyond repair and 43 B-17s and 7 B-24s are damaged; casualties are 7 KIA, 3 WIA and 43 MIA. Escorting are 85 P-38s, 506 Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-47s and 47 Ninth Air Force P-51s; they claim 11-2-3 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 2-0-7 on the ground; 3 P-38s and 1 P-47 are lost, 1 P-38 and 2 P-47s are damaged beyond repair and 1 P-38 and 1 P-47 are damaged; casualties are 2 WIA and 4 MIA. Mission 213: 6 of 6 B-17s drop 363 leaflet bundles in a CARPETBAGGER mission over Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Liege and Monceau-sur-Sambre, Belgium at 2202-2225 hours without loss.

February 6, 1945
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 312
Target: Friedrichroda, Geisel, and Ostheim, Germany
Visual Targets of Opportunity
Crews Dispatched: 39
Length of Mission: 8 hours, 28 minutes
Bomb Load: 10 x 500 lb H.E. M43 bombs
Bombing Altitudes: 25,100, 23,500, & 25,900 ft
Ammo Fired: 580 rounds

February 6, 1945
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: Mission 821: 1,383 bombers and 904 fighters are dispatched to attack oil targets in Germany; the expected clear weather does not materialize and the bombers attack secondary targets and targets of opportunity using H2X radar; they claim 4-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 5 bombers and 4 fighters are lost: 1. 474 of 949 B-17s hit the secondary target in 2 forces, the marshalling yard at Chemnitz; targets of opportunity are the Gotha marshalling yard (88), Giessen (68), Saalfeld (39), Ohrdruf (35), Eisfeld (34), Schmalkalden (32), Greiz (22), Zwickau (22), Eisenach (13), Waltershausen (12), Dirlos (12), Ostheim (12), Friedrichroda (11), Steinbach (2), Meppen (1), Reichenbach (1), Schmalkalden (1), and other (1); 3 B-17s are lost, 13 damaged beyond repair and 115 damaged; 41 airmen are KIA, 7 WIA and 24 MIA. Escorting are 545 of 588 P-51s; they claim 1-0-1 aircraft in the air and 3-0-0 on the ground; 4 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 7 damaged beyond repair. 2. 418 of 434 B-24s hit the secondary target, the marshalling yard at Magdeburg; targets of opportunity are the Meppen Bridge (1) and Quackenbruck (1); 2 B-24s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 61 damaged; 18 airmen are MIA. The escort is 235 of 262 P-51s without loss. 3. 33 of 38 P-51s fly a scouting mission without loss. 4. 8 P-51s escort photo reconnaissance aircraft over Germany. 5. 8 P-51s escort air-sea-rescue aircraft.