War Memorial - Molesworth, Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom


303rd Bombardment Group (H) "Hell's Angels"


358 Bomb Squadron	359 Bomb Squadron	360 Bomb Squadron	427 Bomb Squadron

	Royal Air Force Sqn. Ldr. Clive Wood, left, RAF Alconbury and RAF Molesworth RAF commander, and U.S. Air Force Col. Richard Martin, right, 423rd Air Base Group commander, stand near the World War II memorial during a Remembrance Sunday ceremony at the 303rd Bombardment Group memorial monument at RAF Molesworth, England, Nov. 3, 2020.
The picture was taken by Airman 1st Class Jennifer Zima and can be found on 501st Combat Support Wing

303rd Bombardment Group (H)
"Hell's Angels"

Flew from this airfield
Station 107 Molesworth

1942 - 1945

They never turned back
in the face of the enemy

	303rd Bombardment Group (H) Activated Pendleton Field, Oregon, 3 Feb 42 Deactivated Casablanca, Morocco, 25 Jul 45
	Combat Commanders
	James H. Wallace Charles E. Marion Kermit D. Stevens Lewis E. Lyle (Acting) Richard H. Cole (Acting) William S. Raper William C. Sipes	Jul 42 - Feb 43 Feb 43 - Jul 43 Jul 43 - Oct 44 Sep 44 - Oct 44 Oct 44 Oct 44 - Apr 45 Apr 45 - Jun 45
	Support Organizations
	444th Sub Depot • 3rd Station Complement Sq. 1681st Ordnance S & M Co. • 1199th Military Police Co. 863rd Chemical Co. • 18th Weather Sq. Det. 107 2097th Engineers Fire-Fighting Plt. 114th Ouatermaster Co. • 202nd Finance Section 303rd Station Hospital • 249th Medical Det. Company E 156th Inf. • 328th Service Sq. • 8AF Dental Det. 3rd Provisional Gas Defense Det. 425th Air Service Group

303rd Bombardment Group (H)
8th Air Force

Arrived UK - 12 Sep 42
First combat mission 17 Nov 42
Last combat mission 25 Apr 45

364 combat missions
(The most of any 8AF B-17 Group)
10,721 sorties
378 enemy aircraft destroyed

First 8AF B-17 to reach
25 missions -"Hell's Angels"

First 8AF B-17 to reach
50 and 75 missions - "Knock-Out Dropper"

First 8AF Bomb group to reach
300 missions - 9 Jan 45

Distinguished unit citation
for mission of 11 Jan 44

303rd Bomb Group airmen awarded
the Congressional Medal of Honour:
1Lt. Jack Mathis - 18 Mar 43
TSgt. Forrest Vosler - 20 Dec 43

841 killed in action
747 taken prisoner of war
210 B-17's lost (Combat and training)

Molesworth 05 October 1945

Molesworth was one of the early stations used by the Eighth Air Force in the UK, first occupied by the 15th Bomb Squadron's Douglas Bostons in June 1942. Built in 1940 and extended and improved in 1942, Molesworth is most associated with the 303rd Bomb Group, popularly known as 'Hell's Angels' which moved in with its B-17s in September 1942 and remained at the base until June 1945. Molesworth reverted to RAF control in 1945 and was closed in 1946. It was re-opened in 1951 for use by the US Air Force, and it remains a US base today: home to the Joint Intelligence Operations Center Europe Analytic Center. It was announced in January 2015 by the US Department of Defense that RAF Molesworth will close as a USAFE base in 2022. The USAF intelligence and support elements currently located at RAF Molesworth and RAF Alconbury will be combined in a new complex at RAF Croughton, Northamptonshire. RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk, will also close as a USAFE base after 2020.


The Commanders	The Crews

Arial picture
Picture owner: Unknown
Source: American Air Museum

The arial picture is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported license.

This page is dedicated to the 10 million victims of World War I and 60 million victims of World War II.
We should always remember the immense grief and loss each war brought to the world.

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