This Day in 303rd Bomb Group History: August 18th

glm@303rdbg.com (Gary L. Moncur) — 18 Aug 2026 00:56:20 -0000

August 18, 1942
ETO 8th AF: Units arriving in England from the US: HQ 14th Fighter Group at Atcham; HQ 64th Troop Carrier Group and 16th, 17th, 18th and 35th Troop Carrier Squadrons at Ramsbury with C-47s; HQ 92nd Bombardment Group (Heavy) and 325th, 326th, 327th and 407th Bombardment Squadrons (Heavy) at Bovingdon with B-17s (they will fly some combat missions while training replacement crews, Aug 42-Jan 43); 32nd Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 301st Bombardment Group (Heavy), at Chelveston with B-17s (first mission is 2 Oct).

August 18, 1943
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: VIII Air Support Command Missions 25A and 25B: Two Luftwaffe airfields are targetted: 1. 36 B-26's are dispatched to Lille/Vendeville Airfield in France; because of mechanical trouble with communications equipment and the bombsight in the lead plane, 22 aircraft bomb the Ypres/Vlamertinge Air-field in Belgium at 1016 hours; 23 aircraft are damaged; there are no casualties. 2. 36 B-26's are dispatched to Woensdrecht Airfield in the Netherlands; 32 hit the target at 1032 hours; 8 aircraft are damaged; there are no casualties.

August 18, 1944
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 230
Target: Railroad bridges at Liege and Val Bendit, Belgium
Crews Dispatched: 39
Crew Members Killed or Wounded: 2 wounded
Length of Mission: 4 hours, 50 minutes
Bomb Load: 10 x 500 lb G.P. RDX or 10 x 500 lb H.E. bombs
Bombing Altitudes: 26,800 & 25,700 ft
Ammo Fired: 23,685 rounds

August 18, 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: Three missions are flown (numbers in parenthesis are numbers of bombers attacking): Mission 561: 52 B-24s are dispatched to hit Roye/Amy Airfield, France (42) and 10 hit targets of opportunity; 2 B-24s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 37 damaged; 2 airmen are KIA, 1 WIA and 21 MIA. Escort is provided by 96 of 99 P-51s without loss. Mission 562: 720 bombers and 242 fighters are dispatched against bridges, airfields, fueld dumps and an aircraft engine factory in France and Belgium; 2 bombers and 1 fighter are lost: 1. 269 B-17s are dispatched against bridges at Namur (37), Liege/Benoit (36), Huy (35), Yvoir (35), Liege/Seraing (26), Vise (25) and Maastricht (24); 13 hit Tongres marshalling yard, 12 hit Eindhoven Airfield and 12 hit targets of opportunity; 57 B-17s are damaged and 5 airmen are WIA. Escort is proivded by 99 of 153 P-38 and P-51s; they claim 46-0-15 Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground; 1 P-38 is lost (pilot is MIA), 1 P-51 is damaged beyond repair and 1 P-38 is damaged. 2. 256 B-24s are dispatched to hit airfields at Metz (78) and Nancy/Essey (70) and Woippy (60) and Laneureville (35); 1 B-24 is damaged beyond repair; 4 airmen are KIA and 2 WIA. Escort is provided by 38 of 43 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot is MIA). 3. 195 B-17s are dispatched to hit St Dizier Airfield (116), Pacy-sur-Armancon (39) and Bourran (38); 1 other hits a target of opportunity; 7 B-17s are damaged. Escort is provided by 93 of 96 P-51s; they claim 2-0-3 aircraft on the ground; 2 P-51s are lost (pilots are MIA). Mission 564: 7 of 7 B-17s drop leaflets in France during the night.