This Day in 303rd Bomb Group History: January 6th

glm@303rdbg.com (Gary L. Moncur) — 06 Jan 2026 21:17:42 -0000

January 6, 1943
8th AF: The 325th, 326th, 327th and 407th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy), 92nd Bombardment Group (Heavy) with B-17s move from Bovingdon to Alconbury, England.

January 6, 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: Lieutenant General James H Doolittle assumes command, replacing Lieutenant General Ira C Eaker who will go to Italy as Commanding General Mediterranean Allied Air Force (MAAF). Mission 177: During the evening, 5 B-17's drop 984,000 leaflets on Amiens, Lille, Valenciennes, Cambrai and Reims, France without loss.

January 6, 1944
Lt General James H. Doolittle was appointed 8th AF Commander, replacing Lt. Genenal Ira Eaker.

January 6, 1945
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 298A
Target: Marshalling Yard at Cologne, Germany
Crews Dispatched: 39
Length of Mission: 6 hours, 25 minutes
Bomb Load: 2 x 1,000 lb H.E. M44 & 2 x 2,000 lb H.E. M34 bombs
Bombing Altitudes: 24,100, 23,800, and 24,100 ft
Ammo Fired: 400 rounds

January 6, 1945
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: 2 missions are flown. Mission 783: 816 bombers and 622 fighters are dispatched to hit rail and communications targets in W Germany; all but a few attacks are made using Gee-H and H2X; they claim 14-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; 1 B-17 and 2 P-51s are lost: 1. 258 B-17s are dispatched to hit marshalling yards at Worms (62) and Kaiserslautern (34); 64 hit a secondary target, the marshalling yard at Ludwigshafen; targets of opportunity are Annweiler (31), the marshalling yard at Kusel (22) and other (29); some targets are bombed visually; 2 B-17s are damaged beyond repair and 55 damaged; 5 airmen are KIA and 2 WIA. Escorting are 109 of 121 P-51s; they claim 14-0-1 aircraft on the ground; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 2 damaged beyond repair (1 pilot KIA). 2. 422 B-17s are sent to hit the Cologne South rail bridge (71) and Cologne North highway bridge (35) and the communications center at Kempernich (72); secondary targets are the Kalk marshalling yard at Cologne (183) and the highway bridge across the Rhine River at Bonn (38); 3 others hit a target of opportunity; 1 B-17 is lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 17 damaged; 1 airman is WIA and 10 MIA. Escort is provided by 219 of 229 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 2 damaged beyond repair (1 pilot KIA). 3. 31 of 130 B-24s hit the highway bridge across the Rhine River at Bonn; 95 hit the secondary target, the Mosel marshalling yard at Koblenz; 1 hits a target of opportunity; 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 17 damaged. The escort is 172 of 181 P-51s. 4. 6 of 6 B-17s fly a screening mission. 5. 36 of 60 P-47s attack the marshalling yard at Siegen. 6. 23 of 23 P-51s fly a scouting mission. 7. 8 of 8 P-51s escort 4 F-5s on a photo reconnaissance mission over W Germany. Mission 784: 6 B-17s drop leaflets over Belgium and the Netherlands during the night.