This Day in 303rd Bomb Group History: April 28th

glm@303rdbg.com (Gary L. Moncur) — 28 Apr 2026 06:55:03 -0000

April 28, 1942
ETO 8th AF: HQ VIII Ground Air Support Command is activated at Bolling Field, Washington, DC.

April 28, 1943
303rd BG: Heavy, persistent rain prevented any missions. Major Kirk R. Mitchell was appointed 358th BS Commanding Officer, replacing Major Clemens K. Wurzbach.

April 28, 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: MORNING OPERATIONS: Mission 325: 223 bombers are dispatched: 1. 116 of 117 B-17s hit Avord Airfield, France; 2 B-17s are lost and 38 damaged; 20 airmen are MIA. Escort is provided by 118 P-47s and 87 P-51s; they claim 0-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 8-0-3 on the ground; 2 P-51s are lost and 2 damaged; 2 pilots are MIA. 2. 18 of 106 B-17s bomb the Sottevast, France V-weapon site and targets of opportunity; clouds prevent most B-17s from bombing; 2 B-17s are lost and 47 damaged; 3 airmen are WIA and 21 MIA. Escort is provided by 46 P-47s without loss. 2 fighter-bomber missions are also flown against airfields in France: 1. 34 P-38s using the Droopsnoot method, bomb Tours Airfield; 11 P-38s fly escort; 1 P-38 is lost and 1 damaged; 1 pilot is MIA. 3. 49 P-38s using the Droopsnoot method, bomb Chateaudun Airfield while 3 P-38s fly escort; 1 P-38 is damaged; 32 P-47s, with 4 P-47 escorts, dive-bomb the same target; they claim 1-0-1 aircraft on the ground. AFTERNOON OPERATIONS: Mission 325: 47 of 47 B-24s bomb the Marquise/Mimoyecques, France V-weapon sites; 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 6 damaged; 9 airmen are WIA. Escort is provided by 50 P-47s without loss. 16 P-47s, with 8 escorts, dive bomb an unidentified airfield near Paris without loss. NIGHT OPERATIONS: Mission 326: 5 of 5 B-17s drop 1.64 million leaflets on 17 towns in Belgium, France and The Netherlands including Antwerp, Brussels, Paris, Tours, Lorient, Nantes, Orleans, Zwolle, Leeuwarden, Turnhout and Amersfoort without loss. 21 B-24s are dispatched on CARPETBAGGER missions without loss. 848th and 851st Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy), 490th Bombardment Group (Heavy), arrive at Eye, England from the US with B-24s; first mission is 4 Jun and 31 May respectively.

April 28, 1945
Mussolini is captured and hanged by Italian partisans.