This Day in 303rd Bomb Group History: August 8th

glm@303rdbg.com (Gary L. Moncur) — 08 Aug 2026 06:44:26 -0000

August 8, 1943
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: VIII Air Support Command Mission 15: 36 B-26's are dispatched to Poix/Nord Airfield, France but the forma-tion is turned back by weather.

August 8, 1944
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 223
Target: Tactical Mission in Support of Ground Troops,
Caen Area, France
Crews Dispatched: 36
Length of Mission: 4 hours, 35 minutes
Bomb Load: 38 x 100 lb G.P. bombs
Bombing Altitudes: 14,050, 13,500 & 15,200 ft
Ammo Fired: 50 rounds

August 8, 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: Shuttle missions continue as 78 B-17s with 55 P-51s escort, leave bases in the USSR to hit airfields in Rumania; 38 hit Bizau and 35 hit Zlistea; no Luftwaffe fighters are encountered during the mission and the force flies to Italy. Mission 530: 414 B-24s and 265 fighters are dispatched to attack airfields and V-weapon sites in France; 115 hit V-weapons sites in the Pas de Calais; 91 hit Clastres Airfield, 53 hit Romilly air depot, 50 hit La Perthe Airfield, 12 hit Laon/Athies Airfield, 14 hit railroad bridges, 13 hit targets of opportunity and 11 hit Bretigny Airfield; 1 B-24 is lost, 1 is damaged beyond repair and 139 are damaged; 11 airmen are KIA, 9 WIA and 9 MIA. Escort is provided by 265 P-47s and P-51s; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots are MIA). Mission 531: 681 B-17s and 100 P-51s are dispatched to bomb enemy troop concentrations and strongpoints S of Caen; 25 Canadian soldiers are killed and 131 wounded by short bombing; 231 hit Cauvincourt, 99 hit Bretteville-sur-Laise strongpoint, 99 hit St Sylvain strong point, 67 hit targets of opportunity and 1 hits Gouvix strongpoint; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 7 B-17s are lost, 4 damaged beyond repair and 294 damaged; 8 airmen are KIA, 15 WIA and 35 MIA. Escort is provided by 91 of 100 P-51s; they claim 4-1-6 aircraft; 3 P-51s are lost (pilots are MIA). 41 of 50 P-51s escort RAF Coastal Command Beaufighters on a convoy strike in Norway; 3 P-51s are lost and 3 damaged; 1 pilot is WIA and 3 MIA. 175 P-38s, P-47s and P-51s fly a fighter-bomber mission against the railroad N and W of Dijon; 2 P-47s and 2 P-51s are lost; 1 P-38, 1 P-47 and 1 P-51 are lost; 5 airmen are MIA. Mission 532: 5 of 5 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.