This Day in 303rd Bomb Group History: December 29th

glm@303rdbg.com (Gary L. Moncur) — 29 Dec 2025 00:23:37 -0000

December 29, 1944
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 292
Target: Railroad Bridge at Bullay, Germany
Crews Dispatched: 42
Length of Mission: 6 hours, 10 minutes
Bomb Load: 6 x 1,000 lb H.E. M44 bombs
Bombing Altitudes: 22,200, 21,000 & 22,875 ft
Ammo Fired: 1,840 rounds

December 29, 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: Mission 769: 827 bombers and 724 fighters hit communications targets in W Germany; 4 bombers and 3 fighters are lost: 1. 219 B-17s are dispatched to hit marshalling yards at Frankfurt (124), and Aschaffenburg (67); 10 hit the secondary, the Frankfurt S marshalling yard; and 9 hit a target of opportunity; 1 B-17s is lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 101 damaged; 5 airmen are WIA and 12 MIA. Escorting are 267 of 282 P-51s; 2 are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 2. 304 B-17s are sent to hit the Bingen marshalling yard (144), Bullay rail bridge (74) and communication center at Wittlich (50); targets of opportunity are Grosslittgen (12) and one near Diekirch (13); 2 B-17s are lost and 132 damaged; 11 airmen are WIA and 15 MIA. Escorting are 61 of 64 P-51s; 1 is lost. 3. 262 B-24s are sent to hit communications centers at Schleiden (9), Zulpich (31), Stadtkyll (32) and Drum (10), the Irlich rail bridge (51), the Gerolstein marshalling yard (26) and the Remagen Bridge (30); targets of opportunity are Fensbach (19), Duppach (8) and 10 others; 1 B-24 is lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 95 damaged; 17 airmen are KIA and 5 WIA. Escort is provided by 106 of 119 P-51s without loss. 4. 38 B-17s are sent to hit the Lunebach communications center (35); 1 hits the Telm marshalling yard; 23 B-17s are damaged. Escorting are 101 of 104 P-51s without loss. 5. 4 of 4 B-17s fly a screening mission. 6. 81 P-47s and P-51s fly a fighter sweep against rail transportation without loss. 7. 26 of 27 P-51s fly a scouting mission.