303d Bombardment Group The 303d Bombardment Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit . Its last assignment was to the 303d Bombardment Wing , being stationed at Davis - Monthan Air Force Base , Arizona . It was inactivated on 16 June 1952 . During World War II , the group was one of the first VIII Bomber Command B - 17 Flying Fortress units in England . The " Hell ' s Angels " were the first B - 17 group to complete 25 combat missions in June 1943 , going on to fly more than 300 combat missions , more than any other group . The 359th BS B - 17F 41 - 24605 " Knock - out Dropper " was the first aircraft in Eighth Air Force to complete 50 , then 75 missions . History . World War II . The 303rd Bombardment Group ( H ) was constituted on 28 January 1942 at Savannah , Georgia , was activated at Pendleton Field , Pendleton , Oregon , on 3 February 1942 , and received its initial staff and training at Gowen Field , Boise , Idaho on 13 February 1942 . Training for its combat missions took place at Alamogordo Air Base , New Mexico and Biggs Field , Texas . On 23 August 1942 , the ground echelon moved to Fort Dix , New Jersey , to board the RMS " Queen Mary " for overseas deployment . They arrived at Molesworth , England , on 9 September 1942 . The air echelon arrived in late October and the stage was set for entrance into combat . The 358th flew the first mission for the group on 17 November 1942 . The group would become one of the legendary units of the Eighth Air Force . Initially missions were conducted against targets such as aerodromes , railways , and submarine pens in France until 1943 , then flying missions into Germany itself . The 303d took part in the first penetration into Germany by heavy bombers of Eighth Air Force by striking the U - boat yard at Wilhelmshaven on 27 January 1943 then attacked other targets such as the ball - bearing plants at Schweinfurt , shipbuilding yards at Bremen , a synthetic rubber plant at Huls , an aircraft engine factory at Hamburg , industrial areas of Frankfurt , an aerodrome at Villacoublay , and a marshalling yard at Le Mans . The 303d received a Distinguished Unit Citation for an operation on 11 January 1944 when , in spite of continuous attacks by enemy fighters in weather that prevented effective fighter cover from reaching the group , it successfully struck an aircraft assembly plant at Oschersleben . The group attacked gun emplacements and bridges in the Pas de Calais area during the invasion of Normandy in June 1944 ; bombed enemy troops to support the breakthrough at Saint - Lô in July 1944 . It struck airfields , oil depots , and other targets during the Battle of the Bulge , and bombed military installations in the Wesel area to aid the Allied assault across the Rhine in March 1945 . The last mission for the 303d was flown on 25 April 1945 when it attacked an armament works in Pilsen . During its combat tour the group flew 364 missions comprising 10 , 271 sorties , dropped 26 , 346 tons of bombs and shot down 378 enemy aircraft with another 104 probables . The group also saw 817 of its men killed in action with another 754 becoming prisoners of war . On 31 May 1945 , the 303d Bomb Group left Molesworth , moving to Casablanca , French Morocco . Wulfe Hound . A B - 17F - 27 - BO from the 360th BS , 303d BG , nicknamed " Wulfe Hound " ( " 41 - 24585 " ; squadron code PU - B ) was the first Flying Fortress to be captured by the " Luftwaffe " . On December 12 , 1942 ( 303d BG mission # 6 ) , after attacking railroad marshaling yard s in the Rouen - Sotteville area of France , " Wulfe Hound " was damaged by Focke Wulf Fw 190 fighters . The damage forced the pilot , 1Lt Paul F . Flickenge to make a difficult wheels - up landing in a hayfield near Melun ( 60 miles southeast of Paris ) , with the ball turret guns pointing downward . Eight of the crew were captured but 1Lt Gilbert T Showalter ( navigator ) and 2Lt Jack E . Williams ( co - pilot ) were able to escape and evaded . German personnel were able to transport the B - 17 to the nearby Leeuwarden airfield in the Netherlands where repairs made and put in flyable condition . The damaged Ball Turret was never replaced . It was painted with German " Balkenkreuz " Insignia and " Stammkennzeichen " alphabetic code DL + XC with yellow paint on the undersurfaces . It was carefully examined and tested at the Luftwaffe Test and Evaluation Center at Rechlin . Wulf Hound was first flown by the Germans on 17 March 1943 , followed by more testing and development of fighter tactics against B - 17s . It was transferred to the Luftwaffe " Kampfgeschwader " KG 200 special operations wing at Rangesdforf , Germany on 11 September 1943 . It then took part in training and highly secretive clandestine missions between May and June 1944 . On 20 April 1945 this aircraft was caught in an allied air - raid on Oranienburg Airfield and was partially destroyed . In 2000 , the Germany government started redeveloping this former airfield and part of Wulf Hound were recovered and placed on display at Sachsenhausen Memorial Store Strategic Air Command . Activated in the US on 1 July 1947 . Assigned to Strategic Air Command . There is no evidence that the group was manned during 1947 and 1948 . Inactivated on 6 September 1948 . Activated on 4 September 1951 . Assigned to Strategic Air Command and equipped with B - 29s . Squadrons assigned directly to 303d Bombardment Wing as part of the Air Force tri - deputate reorganization , and the group was inactivated on 16 June 1952 .