The afternoon mission was almost identical to the morning mission. The 303rd BG(H) dispatched two Groups of 20 aircraft. Clouds over the target were 7/10 to 8/10 with some breaks over the target. Bombing was again by "GEE-H" navigation equipment and 1,493 100-lb. G.P. M30 bombs were dropped from 24,000 and 24,500 feet. Results were poor – the bombs hit over and to the right of the target. There were no enemy fighters or flak. Friendly fighter support was poor – only a few were spotted. All aircraft returned safely to Molesworth.

More info on this mission at the 303BG website

Each of the 303rd BG(H)'s formations took off with 19 regular B-17s and one additional aircraft equipped with "GEE-H" navigation equipment. No aircraft returned early.

The primary target was a V-Weapon "No Ball" target. The secondary and last resort targets were "any bridge, road center, rail center, troop concentration, or other objective of military importance in the movement of enemy troops, not adjacent to a built-up area on which a visual sighting can be made."

Both Group formations, utilizing the "GEE-H" equipment, bombed the primary target with 1,513 100-lb. G.P. M30 bombs. Bombs were dropped from 25,500 and 25,000 feet through solid 10/10 clouds. The results could not be observed. No enemy aircraft or flak was encountered. All aircraft returned to Molesworth with no damage or casualties.

More info on this mission at the 303BG website

24 aircraft assigned to this mission: Completed Mission - 19. Aborted - 1. Scrubbed - 1. Returned To Base - 1. Ground Spare, Unused - 2
42-3441 Brown, Donald H - Weather aircraft
42-102617 Murchan, Lawrence A - Aborted Tail gunner, Sgt Erling Nielsen, suffered from the bends, forcing the crew to abort.

25 aircraft assigned to this mission: Completed Mission - 20. Ground Spare, Unused - 5
42-97960 Kelly, John T - one engine and aileron control were shot out by flak on bomb run and bombs were jettisoned 200 yds. from target and plane left formation

Over the Continent the clouds were 10/10th up to 29,000 feet. Just before reaching the target area the 45th B Combat Wing leader abandoned the mission because of bad weather. The A Group went over the target but did not drop its bombs.

All a/c returned to base by 1136 hours.

Massey was flying in \\\"Channel Express\\\" on the mission to Bordeaux, France. His aircraft was leading the high squadron of one of the Group\\\'s boxes for that effort. The Group had not encountered enemy opposition of any kind when Lt. Massey\\\'s aircraft dropped down and out of formation. He was noticed by the Group leader and called by him on VHF. No answer was received and the aircraft pulled into a tight bank and nosed down in a spiral and began to disintegrate. No chutes were observed to come from the aircraft and chances for any crew members surviving were slight. Lt. Kelly and his co-pilot Lt. Coyne were flying on Lt. Massey\\\'s wing. When asked what they were able to observe about the aircraft they both stated that they had seen smoke in the cockpit which could have probably been fire.

Lt. Massey later told the hair-raising tale of luck that is beyond the category of possibilities it seemed. Their aircraft had caught fire along the floor below the top-turret and behind the cockpit. Lt. Massey and the top-turret gunner were making a gallant effort to extinguish this fire when it became apparent that it was uncontrollable and they should bail out. Lt. Massey signalled the co-pilot to pullout of formation and gave the bail-out alarm. Then the trouble started. Lt. passed out from anoxia (but with his parachute in-his hand) and the aircraft went out of control. Being unable to jettison the nose escape hatch several of the crew were thrown against the nose plexiglas with Lt. Stelljes pinned underneath them. Then the aircraft exploded and the next thing any of the escaping three remembered was falling through the air and at low altitude when they regained consciousness. Lt Massey was still holding on to his parachute as was S/Sgt. Bernard who had been blown out with his in his arms. Both miraculously managed to get the chest-type parachutes on and pop their chutes at about 2,000 feet altitude, and all three landed safely. After 10 weeks of dodging the Germans they managed to evade to England. They were received well and after a short stay departed for a much-deserved leave at home in the states.

The 2 sites were bombed through cloud cover with unobserved results.