This Day in 303rd Bomb Group History: April 5th

glm@303rdbg.com (Gary L. Moncur) — 05 Apr 2026 15:57:14 -0000

April 5, 1943
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 29
Target: Erla Aircraft Works, Antwerp, Belgium
Crews Dispatched: 21
Crewmen Wounded: S/Sgt. Arnold, Lt. Butt, Lt. Heflin
Length of Mission: 4 hours, 10 minutes
Bomb Load: 6 x 1000 lb H.E. M44 bombs
Bombing Altitude: 25,400 ft
Ammo Fired: 27,845 rounds
Enemy Aircraft Claims: 3 Destroyed, 1 Probable

April 5, 1943
8th AF: VIII Bomber Command Mission 50: 104 B-17's of the 1st Bombardment Wing are dispatched against industrial targets in the Antwerp, Belgium area. The main force is directed at the Erla aircraft factory and Erla engine works. 82 B-17's drop 245.5 tons of bombs at 1530 hours local. We claim 23-8-4 Luftwaffe aircraft; we lose 4 to strong Luftwaffe fighter opposition; 13 aircraft are damaged. Casualties are 3 WIA and 40 MIA. HQ 56th Fighter Group and its 61st, 62nd and 63rd Fighter Squadrons with P-47C's transfer from Horsham St Faith, England to Halesworth, England.

April 5, 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: Mission 288: 21 of 50 B-24s dispatched hit V-weapon sites at St Pol/Siracourt, France without loss; heavy clouds and the failure of blind-bombing equipment cause other B-24s to return to base without bombing. 50 P-47s escort the B-24s without loss. Mission 289: 96 P-38s, 236 P-47s and 124 P-51s are dispatched to attack airfields in Germany; heavy cloud hinders most groups: 1 P-38s is lost and 4 damaged, 1 pilot is MIA; P-47s claim 2-0-2 Luftwaffe aircraft, 1 P-47 is lost and 4 damaged, 1 pilot is MIA; P-51s claim 96-4-120 aircraft, 7 P-51s are lost and 3 damaged, casualties are 1 KIA and 6 MIA. During the night of 5/6 Apr, 801st Bombardment Group (Provisional) dispatches 17 B-24s on CARPETBAGGER (air operations to drop supplies to guerillas in Europe) missions; 1 B-24 is lost. Units arriving in England from the US: HQ 487th Bombardment Group (Heavy) at Lavenham; 503rd, 504th and 505th Fighter-Bomber Squadrons, 339th Fighter-Bomber Group at Fowlmere with P-51s (first mission is 30 Apr); and 832nd, 833rd, 834th and 835th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy), 486th Bombardment Group (Heavy), with B-24s (first mission is 7 May).

April 5, 1945
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 352
Target: Ordnance Depot at Bayreuth, Germany
Crews Dispatched: 39
Length of Mission: 10 hours, 38 minutes
Bomb Load: 6 x 500 lb G.P. & 4 x 500 lb M17 Incendiary bombs
Bombing Altitudes: 15,000, 14,500 & 18,000 feet

April 5, 1945
303rd BG: 1Lt Clem W. Rogers, flying an orientation flight with 12 crewmen, decided to buzz the ground. He descended to 40 or 50 feet and hit some tree tops on a small hill. No one was injured and he landed safely. 1Lt Rogers offered no excuse and disciplinary action was taken.

April 5, 1945
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: 2 missions are flown. Mission 928: 1,358 bombers and 662 fighters attack marshalling yards, ordnance depots, armament works and airfields in Germany; they claim 8-0-6 aircraft; 10 bombers and 1 P-51 are lost: 1. 436 B-17s are dispatched to hit munitions dumps at Ingolstadt (211) and Grafenwohr (94), and the marshalling yard at Bayreuth (73); targets of opportunity are Weiden (30) and Nurnberg (1); the attacks are made visually; 1 B-17 is lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 2 damaged; 11 airmen are KIA and 2 WIA. Escorting are 182 of 201 P-51s; they claim 0-0-1 aircraft in the air and 7-0-3 on the ground. 2. 397 B-24s are sent to hit the marshalling yard at Plauen (151) and the munitions dump at Bayreuth (39); targets of opportunity are the munitions dump at Grafenwohr (1) and munitions plant at Ingolstadt (1); bombing is with H2X radar; 5 B-24s are lost and 5 damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 44 MIA. 280 P-47s and P-51s escort; they claim 1-0-2 aircraft in the air; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA). 3. 521 B-17s are sent to hit the Unterschlauersbach Airfield (59), an aircraft parts factory (13) and munitions depot (54) at Furth, and the Nurnberg S marshalling yard (37); 271 bombers hit the Nurnberg Station marshalling yard, the secondary; bombing is visual; 4 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 112 damaged; 8 airmen are KIA, 7 WIA and 39 MIA. The escort is 91 of 104 P-51s. 4. 4 B-17s fly scouting missions. 5. 18 P-51s escort 5 F-5s on photo reconnaissance missions over Germany. 6. 35 P-51s fly a scouting mission. Mission 929: 12 B-24s drop leaflets in France, the Netherlands and Germany during the night.