Throughout most of the war, the 303rd BG flew missions in a "BOX"
formation
composed of 4 groups of 3 or 4 planes. This BOX
formation is described at the 303rdbga web page. A typical
pre-mission
briefing sheet showing
the box type of formation is shown on my web page below.
On or about the beginning of April of 1945, the 303rd
switched to what I describe as a "6-wide double V" formation. A typical
mission sheet is also shown on this page.
Recently, I found a great photo taken on the Apr
16 1945 mission to Staubing (lead by Major Heller, and Wm Jones flying
deputy lead). The picture was apparently taken from AC#43-39453
(PU-D)
flown by 1Lt Jack Breslin, who flew at the head of the second "V".
Immediately
behind PU-D, is seen PU-Q, ie AC#44-6516 (My Darling) flown by 1Lt
Gordon
Wirth.
Further behind PU-Q, you can see the
entire 427th "LOW" squadron, lead by Donald Hewitt. This view
clearly
shows the orientation of the planes in this double V formation.
Image
shown below: