This Day in 303rd Bomb Group History: August 15th

glm@303rdbg.com (Gary L. Moncur) — 15 Aug 2026 11:41:58 -0000

August 15, 1942
ETO 8th AF: 11th Troop Carrier Squadron, 60th Troop Carrier Group, moves from Chelveston to Aldermaston, England with C-47s.

August 15, 1943
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 58
Target: Poix & Amiens / Gilsy Airdromes, France
Crews Dispatched: 20
Length of Mission: 4 hours, 10 minutes
Bomb Load: 24 x 100 lb H.E. M43 bombs
Bombing Altitude: 24,000 ft
Ammo Fired: 1,779 rounds

August 15, 1943
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: VIII Bomber Command Mission 82: Luftwaffe airfields in France and the Netherlands are targetted today. 1. 180 B-17's are dispatched to Vlissingen Airfield in the Netherlands and Amiens and Poix Airfield in France; 147 aircraft hit the targets at 1926-1931 hours; 48 B-17's are damaged; casualties are 3 WIA. 2. 147 B-17's are dispatched to Merville, Lille/Vendeville and Vitry en Artois Airfields in France; 143 hit the targets at 1925-1933 hours; they claim 9-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 B-17's are lost and 11 damaged; casualties are 1 KIA, 3 WIA and 20 MIA. VIII Air Support Command Missions 19A, 19B and 20: Three Luftwaffe air-fields are targetted: 1. 36 B-26's are dispatched against St Omer/Ft Rouge Airfield in France; 31 hit the target at 0959 hours; 18 B-26's are damaged.
2. 36 B-26's are dispatched against Woensdrecht Airfield, The Netherlands; they turn back at the Dutch coast aborted the mission.
3. 21 B-26's are dispatched against the marshalling yard at Abbeville, France; 19 hit the target at 1933 hours; 9 aircraft are damaged; casualties are 1 WIA.

August 15, 1944
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 229
Target: Airfield near Wiesbaden, Germany
Crews Dispatched: 39
Crews Lost: 9 A/C, 23 KIA, 48 POW, 10 EVD
Crew Members Lost or Wounded: 1 KIA, 2 WIA
Length of Mission: 6 hours, 46 minutes
Bomb Load: 4 x 1,000 lb G.P. M43
& 4 x 500 lb M17 Incendiary bombs
Bombing Altitudes: 25,600, 25,500 & 24,900 ft
Ammo Fired: 50,050 rounds

August 15, 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: Mission 554: 932 bombers and 443 fighters are dispatched to attack 11 airfields in NW Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium in conjunction with 1,000 Royal Air Force (RAF) heavy bombers and Mosquitos raiding 9 airfields in the Netherlands and Belgium; 16 bombers and 5 fighters are lost; numbers in parenthesis indicate the number of bombing attacking: 1. 219 B-17s are dispatched to hit German airfields at Cologne/Ostheim (108), Frankfurt/Eschborn (65) and Wiesbaden (38); 3 others hit targets of opportunity; they claim 4-2-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 9 B-17s are lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 86 damaged; 7 airmen are KIA, 8 WIA and 81 MIA. Escort is provided by 112 of 141 P-51s; they claim 10-0-1 aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 2 damaged. 2. 350 B-24s are dispatched to German airfields at Wittmundhaafen (91), Zwischenahn (90), Vechta (67), Plantlunne (54) and Hopstein (10); they claim 9-1-2 aircraft; 4 B-24s are lost and 6 damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 40 MIA. Escort is provided by 163 P-38s and P-51s; they claim 4-0-0 aircraft in the air and 7-0-9 on the ground; 2 P-38s and 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA); 3 P-51s are damaged; 1 pilot is WIA. 3. 298 B-17s are dispatched to Dutch airfields at Handorf (109), Venlo (104) and Twente/Enschede (75); 3 others hit targets of opportunity; 2 B-17s are lost and 6 damaged; 19 airmen are MIA. 4. In Belgium, 59 of 65 B-24s hit Florennes/Juzaine Airfield and 1 hits a target of opportunity; 1 B-24 is lost and 3 damaged. The two missions above are escorted by 118 of 124 P-51s without loss. 33 of 35 P-47s dive-bomb and skip-bomb a repair shop and locomotives in the marshalling yard at Braine-le-Comtes; 1 P-47 is lost and 4 damaged; 4 pilots are MIA. 12 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night. HQ 491st Bombardment Group (Heavy) and the 852nd, 853rd, 854th and 855th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy) move from Metfield to North Pickenham, England with B-24s.

August 15, 1945
V-J Day was declared.