This Day in 303rd Bomb Group History: January 14th

glm@303rdbg.com (Gary L. Moncur) — 14 Jan 2026 05:45:11 -0000

January 14, 1943
8th AF: Eight Spitfire Mk Vs of the 4th Fighter Group carry out three Rhubarbs ( a small number of aircraft attacking ground targets usually in bad weather) and engage Fw 190s west of Ostend. We claim 2 enemy aircraft destroyed; two Spitfires are damaged one making a forced landing at Bradwell Bay with flak damage. One of the three squadrons of the 4th Fighter Group completes its transition from the Spitfire Mk V to P-47Cs; the group will fly its first P-47 mission on 10 Mar 43.

January 14, 1943
Casablanca Conference begins between Churchill and Roosevelt, during which the decision is made that the war can end only with an unconditional German surrender.

January 14, 1944
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 99
Target: Special Construction Works at Le Maillard & Gueschart, France
(Crossbow Targets)
Crews Dispatched: 18
Crews Lost: 1 crew - Capt. Hungerford, 11 POW
Length of Mission: 4 hours, 5 minutes
Bomb Load: 12 x 500 lb A.N. M-43 G.P. bombs
Bombing Altitude: 12,000 ft
Ammo Fired: 7,860 rounds

January 14, 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: Mission 183: 356 of 374 B-17's and 156 of 178 B-24's hit 20 of 21 V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais area of France; 19 B-24's hit targets of opportunity; they claim 8-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; 2 B-17's and 1 B-24 are lost, 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 66 B-17's and 9 B-24's are damaged; casualties are 1 KIA, 11 WIA and 31 MIA. 98 P-38's, 504 P-47's and 43 Ninth Air Force P-51's escort; they claim 14-1-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 1 P-38, 1 P-47 and 1 P-51 are lost, 1 P-47 is damaged beyond repair and 9 P-47's and 1 P-51 are damaged; casualties are 3 MIA. Mission 184: During the evening, 4 B-17's drop 840,000 leaflets on Amiens, Lille, Cambrai and St. Omer France without loss. Mission 185: 2 B-17's are dispatched to Wesel, Germany for a night test of Oboe Mk II; 1 aircraft aborts and 1 drops 2 tons of high explosive bombs on the target without loss.

January 14, 1945
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: 2 missions are flown. Mission 792: 911 bombers and 860 fighters are dispatched to attack oil refineries and plants in C Germany and highway bridges at Cologne; clear skies allow all bombers to bomb visually; about 250 Luftwaffe fighters attack and the AAF claims 158-0-30 aircraft; 7 bombers and 11 fighters are lost: 1. 370 B-17s are sent to hit oil targets at Derben (186) and Magdeburg (90); 36 hit Hallendorf, the secondary target; targets of opportunity hit are the Osnabruck marshalling yard (8) and other (19); they claim 31-9-7 aircraft; 6 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 121 damaged; 4 airmen are WIA and 149 MIA. Escorting are 295 of 331 P-51s; they claim 89.5-0-14 aircraft in the air and 3-0-5 on the ground; 5 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 3 damaged beyond repair. 2. 348 B-24s are dispatched to hit oil targets at Hallendorf (145), Hemmingstedt (91) and Ehmen (89); 1 hits Wangerooge Island, a target of opportunity; 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair and 80 damaged; 8 airmen are KIA and 1 WIA. The escort is 261 of 295 P-51s; they claim 14.5-0-0 aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA) and 1 damaged beyond repair. 3. 187 B-17s are sent to hit highway bridges at Cologne, the Deutz Bridge (71), the Hohenzollern Bridge (67) and the Rodenkirchen Bridge (36); targets of opportunity are Berg (1) and Cologne (1); 1 B-17 is lost, 3 damaged beyond repair and 92 damaged; 4 airmen are WIA and 10 MIA. Escort is provided by 40 of 42 P-51s; they claim 9-0-5 aircraft; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots MIA) and 1 pilot is WIA. 4. 6 of 6 B-17s fly a screening mission without loss. 5. 116 P-47s and P-51s fly a sweep over N Germany and claim 42-0-6 aircraft; 2 P-47s and 1 P-51 are lost (pilots MIA); 1 P-47 is damaged beyond repair. 6. 30 of 32 P-51s fly a scouting missions without loss. 7. 19 of 22 P-51s escort 12 F-5s and 4 Spitfires on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany. Mission 793: 2 B-17s and 5 B-24s drop leaflets over SE Belgium and Germany during the night.