This Day in . . .
303rd Bomb Group (H) History
March 19, 1944
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 123
Target: "Crossbow" Targets, Wizernes, France
(Pas de Calais area)
Crews Dispatched: 21 + 2 spares
Length of Mission: 4 hours, 25 minutes
Bomb Load: 12 x 500 lb (AN-64) RDX bombs
Bombing Altitude: 22,000 ft
Ammo Fired: 320 rounds
View Mission Report
March 19, 1944
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: Mission 266: V-weapon sites in France are hit. 1. 117 of 129 B-17s hit sites at Wizernes and Watten; 1 B-17 is lost and 74 damaged; casualties are 1 WIA and 10 MIA. 2. 56 of 64 B-17s hit Marquise/Mimoyecques; 14 B-17s are damaged; 1 crewman is WIA. Escort is provided by 82 P-47s; 1 is damaged and the pilot is WIA. Mission 267: 6 of 6 B-17s drop 300 bundles of leaflets on The Hague, Rotterdam, Leeuwarden, Utrecht and Amsterdam, The Netherlands at 2114-2140 hours without loss. Mission 268: 35 P-47s [25 with 500-pound (227 kg) bombs] are dispatched to Gilze-Rijen Airfield, The Netherlands; 20 of the 25 bomb without loss; 39 P-51s fly a supporting sweep.
March 19, 1945
303rd BG (H) Combat Mission No. 340
Target: Military Objectives at Plauen, Germany
Crews Dispatched: 39
Length of Mission: 10 hours, 20 minutes
Bomb Load: 10 x 600 lb G.P. bombs
Bombing Altitudes 26,000, 24,300, & 26,410 ft
Ammo Fired: 8,000 rounds
View Mission Report
March 19, 1945
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS 8th AF: 2 missions are flown. Mission 896: 1,273 bombers and 675 fighters are dispatched to hit airfields and industrial targets in Germany visually and with H2X radar; clouds force 2 of the 3 forces to hit secondaries; 100+ Luftwaffe fighters including 36 Me 262s in formation (largest number of jets seen as a unit) are encountered; the AAF claims 41-3-19 Luftwaffe aircraft (including 3 Me 262s); 6 bombers and 10 fighters are lost: 1. Cloud cover prevents 496 B-17s from hitting the primary targets; secondaries hit are the optical works at Jena (197) and the motor vehicle plant at Zwickau (177); targets of opportunity are Plauen (32), the marshalling yards at Fulda (44) and Saalfeld (10) and other (4); bombing is by H2X radar with some visual attacks; they claim 1-1-2 aircraft; 4 B-17s are lost, 4 damaged beyond repair and 121 damaged; 9 airmen are KIA, 5 WIA and 49 MIA. Escorting are 183 of 198 P-51s; they claim 2-0-3 aircraft; 4 P-51s are lost. 2. Cloud cover forces 404 of 436 B-17s to hit the industrial area at Plauen, the secondary target using H2X radar; targets of opportunity, bombed visually, are the Fulda marshalling yard (20) and Prissig (1); 1 B-17 is lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 4 damaged; 9 airmen are KIA, 3 WIA and 9 MIA. The escort is 141 of 153 P-51s. 3. 341 B-24s are dispatched to hit airfields at Neuburg (125) and Leipheim (84) and jet aircraft plant at Baumenheim (126) visually; 1 B-24 is lost; 11 airmen are MIA. 175 of 194 P-51s escort; they claim 5-0-0 aircraft without loss. 4. 95 of 98 P-51s fly a freelance sweep for the bombers; they claim 33-2-14 aircraft; 6 P-51s are lost. 5. 2 of 4 P-51s escort 15 F-5s and 2 Spitfires on a photo reconnaissance mission over Germany. Mission 897: 11 of 12 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands and Germany during the night.
March 18
March 20
