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

glm@303rdbg.com (Gary L. Moncur) — 28 Jan 2026 01:47:05 -0000

January 28, 1942
The 8th Air Force and the 303rd BG(H) were constituted at Savannah, Georgia

January 28, 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: Mission 195: 54 B-24's in 2 groups are dispatched to the Bonnieres V-weapon site in France; 2 Gee-H equipped PFF aircraft lead each group; due to technical difficulties, the second formation was ordered to follow the lead and bomb the same target as a secondary; 4 minutes before the target the leader of one section accidentally released and the following 11 aircraft did likewise; 31 hit the primary; 1 B-24 is damaged. 122 P-47's provide escort without loss. Gee-H is more accurate than H2X but is of use only against targets within the 200-mi (320 km) beacon range; later, aircraft are equipped with both devices. Mission 196: During the evening, 5 of 5 B-17's drop 1.36 million leaflets on Amiens, Rouen, Cambrai, Reims and Caen, France without loss. Mission 197: During the night, 1 B-17 on an Oboe Mk II test drops 2 tons of bombs on Emmerich, Germany. 748th, 749th, 750th and 751st Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy), 457th Bombardment Group (Heavy), arrive at Glatton, England from the US with B-17's; first mission is 21 Feb.

January 28, 1945
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 308
Target: Railroad Marshalling Yard at Cologne, Germany
Crews Dispatched: 13
Length of Mission: 5 hours, 32 minutes
Bomb Load: 10 x 500 lb H.E. M43 bombs
Bombing Altitude: 24,000 ft
Ammo Fired: 580 rounds

January 28, 1945
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: 2 missions are flown. Mission 809: With the prospect of improved weather over Germany, 1,006 bombers and 249 fighters are dispatched to hit marshalling yards, bridges and benzol plants at Dortmund; 10 bombers are lost: 1. 225 B-24s are sent to hit oil targets at Kaiserstuhl (115) and Gneisenau (58); targets of opportunity are Lippstadt (9), Neheim (5) and other (11); bombing is by Gee-H; 7 B-24s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 97 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 7 WIA and 71 MIA. Escorting are 68 of 77 P-51s. 2. 421 B-17s are sent to hit the Gremberg marshalling yard at Cologne (273) and the Hohenzollern Bridge at Cologne (69); secondary targets are Gutersloh (31) and Bielefeld (7); 3 others hit a target of opportunity; Gee-H and H2X radar are used to bomb; 3 B-17s are lost and 172 damaged; 4 airmen are WIA and 35 MIA. The escort is 69 of 76 P-51s. 3. 360 B-17s are dispatched to hit the Hohenbudberg marshalling yard (169) and Rheinhausen Bridge at Duisburg (80); 10 hit the secondary, the highway bridge at Duisburg; targets of opportunity are Friemersheim (13) and other (2); some targets are hit visually while others are hit using Micro H; 2 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 195 damaged; 14 airmen are KIA and 20 WIA. 35 of 38 P-51s escort the B-17s. 4. 40 P-51s fly a sweep of the tactical area escorting Ninth AF B-26s. 5. 13 of 18 P-51s fly a scouting mission. Mission 810: 2 B-17s and 6 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany during the night. The 328th, 486th and 487th Fighter Squadrons, 352nd Fighter Group, move from Bodney, England to Chievres, Belgium with P-51s (detachments have been operating from Asch, Belgium since 23 Dec 44).