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

glm@303rdbg.com (Gary L. Moncur) — 06 May 2026 02:41:13 -0000

May 6, 1943
Persistent bad weather grounded all the VIII Bomber Command Heavy Bombardment Groups.

May 6, 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: Mission 340: 168 bombers and 185 fighters are dispatched to hit NOBALL (V-weapon) targets in France; 90 B-17s dispatched to the Pas de Calais area return to base with bombs due to cloud cover over the target; 70 of 78 B-24s hit Siracourt; 48 B-17s are damaged. Escort is provided by 57 Ninth Air Force P-38s, 47 P-47s and 81 P-51s without loss. Mission 341: 5 of 5 B-17s drop 3.22 million leaflets on 19 towns in France and Belgium; 1 B-17 encounters a night fighter and claims 0-1-0; the B-17 is damaged. 22 B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER operations.

May 6, 1945
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: 3 missions are flown. Mission 981: 383 B-17s are dispatched to drop food at Schipol (249) and Alkmaar (18) Airfields, E of Vogelenzang (37), W of Utrecht (59), and N of Hilversum (18), the Netherlands; a total of 693.3 tons of food are dropped. Mission 982: 15 B-17s, escorted by 8 of 26 P-51s, drop leaflets in France and Germany during the day. Mission 983: 10 B-24s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Channel Islands during the night of 6/7 May.