303rd Fighter Wing

History

Established on 15 November 1943 at Norfolk Army Airfield (now Norfolk International Airport), in Norfolk, Virginia, and commanded by Brigadier General Burton M. Hovey Jr. as of January 1944, the 303rd Fighter Wing deployed to Europe with IX Fighter Command, Ninth Air Force. Flying from RAF Ashford, its Thunderbolts strafed and bombed Axis vehicles, bridges, buildings, factories, troop concentrations, static defenses and airfields in occupied France before the June 1944 invasion of Normandy. IX Fighter Command escort sorties supported Eighth Air Force aircraft including B-24 and B-17 heavy bombers.

The 303rd flew close air support and air interdiction missions on D-Day, targeting Axis efforts to support and reinforce defensive forces in Normandy. Constant Allied airfield raids had all but eliminated Luftwaffe sorties over northern France, freeing up Allied fighters to focus on enemy ground targets as friendly troops poured onto the beaches. The Allies broke through in July at Saint-Lô with the 303rd overhead, liberated Paris in August, and drove toward Germany. The 303rd joined the XIX Tactical Air Command in November to support Third Army invasion forces moving from Nancy and Metz to the Siegfried Line near Saarbrücken and Haguenau.

Reassigned to support the United States Ninth Army in Belgium as a result of the German offensive during the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944. Attacked enemy targets in the Northern Rheinland during the Rhineland Campaign and Operation Grenade, which was the southern prong of a pincer attack coordinated with Canadian First Army's Operation Veritable, with the purpose of closing the front up to the Rhine River. By 10 March, the Rhine had been reached in all sectors of Ninth Army's front. It was not until after 20 March that Ninth Army units first crossed the Rhine itself.

Attacked ground targets in the Ruhr, providing air support as Allied ground forces encircled enemy forces in the Ruhr Pocket, essentially ending organized enemy resistance in Western Germany. Ninth Army halted its advance at the Elbe River in late April 1945, the wing engaging targets of opportunity in enemy-controlled areas until combat was ended on 5 May 1945.

Remained in Europe after the war as part of United States Air Forces in Europe, performing occupation duty and the destruction or shipment to the United States of captured enemy combat equipment. Demobilized in Germany and organization was inactivated on 20 November 1945.

Operations and decorations

• Combat Operations: Combat in European Theater of Operations (ETO), 8 March 1944-May 1945.
• Campaigns: Air Offensive, Europe;Normandy; Northern France; Rhineland; Ardennes-Alsace; Central Europe
• Decorations: Cited in the Order of the Day, Belgian Army: 1 Oct 1944-; Dec 1944-Jan 1945. Belgian Fourragere

Lineage

• Constituted as 303rd Fighter Wing on 15 Nov 1943 : Activated on 24 Nov 1943 : Disbanded on 12 August 1945
• Reconstituted on 31 July 1985 and consolidated with the 703rd Tactical Missile Wing as the 503rd Tactical Missile Wing

Assignments

• First Air Force, 24 November 1943 – 8 March 1944
• IX Fighter Command, 8 March-1 November 1944
• XIX Tactical Air Command, 1 November 1944 – 15 December 1944
• XXIX Tactical Air Command, 15 December 1944 – 20 November 1945

Components

• 36th Fighter Group: (P-47 Thunderbolt), 4 April-1 August 1944
• 373rd Fighter Group: (P-47 Thunderbolt), 4 April 1944 – 4 August 1945 : Attached to: XIX Tactical Air Command, entire period
• 405th Fighter Group: (P-47 Thunderbolt), 1 August-1 October 1944 : Attached to: XIX Tactical Air Command, entire period
• 406th Fighter Group: (P-47 Thunderbolt), 1 August-1 October 1944 : Attached to: XIX Tactical Air Command, entire period

Stations

• Norfolk AAF, Virginia, 24 November 1943 – 12 February 1944
• RAF Ashford (AAF-417), England, 8 March 1944
• La Combe, France, 31 July 1944
• Houesville, France, 2 August 1944
• Rennes Airfield (A-27), France, 24 August 1944
• Vermand, France, 17 September 1944
• Arlon, Belgium, C. 3 October 1944
• Maastricht Airfield (Y-44), Netherlands, 22 October 1944
• Munchen-Gladbach Airfield (Y-56), Germany, 8 March 1945
• Haltern, Germany, 3 April 1945
• Gutersloh Airfield (Y-99), Germany, 14 April 1945
• Brunswick/Broitzem Airfield (R-38), Germany, 22 April – 20 November 1945

References

• Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History.
• Johnson, David C. (1988), U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO), D-Day to V-E Day; Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center, Maxwell AFB, Alabama.

References

1. (19 March 2018). "Norfolk International Airport History". Norfolk Airport Authority.
2. (17 September 2010). "303rd Fighter Wing". Army Air Corps Museum.
3. (10 May 2025). "303 FIGHTER WG". USAF Unit Histories.
4. (1951). "The Army Air Forces in World War II". University of Chicago Press.
5. (30 June 2015). "GAf (German Air Force, Luftwaffe) and the Invasion of Normandy - 1944". The Navy Department Library.
6. (19 October 2006). "Achtung Jabos! The Story of the IX TAC". LoneSentry.com.
7. (26 June 2022). "The U.S. Third Army and XIX TAC: Partners for Victory". Warefare History Network.
8. Maurer, ''Combat Units'', p. 416
9. Department of the Air Force/MPM Letter 648q, 31 July 1985, Subject: Reconstitution, Redesignation, and Consolidation of Selected Air Force Organizations