467th Bombardment Group

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467th Bombardment Group

467th Bombardment Group Insignia
Active 1943 - 1946
Country United States
Branch United States Army Air Forces
Role Bombardment
Part of Eighth Air Force
Garrison/HQ European Theatre of World War II

The 467th Bombardment Group was a World War II United States Army Air Forces combat organization. It served primarily in the European Theatre of World War II.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Operational Units

  • 788th Bomb Squadron (X7)
  • 789th Bomb Squadron (6A)
  • 790th Bomb Squadron (Q2)
  • 791st Bomb Squadron (4Z)

[edit] Aircraft Flown

[edit] Stations Assigned

[edit] Operational History

Consolidated B-24J-65-CF Liberator Serial 44-10600 of the 788th Bomb Squadron
Consolidated B-24J-65-CF Liberator Serial 44-10600 of the 788th Bomb Squadron
Ford B-24H-25-FO Liberator Serial 42-95234 "Weiser Witch" of the 788th Bomb Squadron.  This aircraft crash landed at RAF Bungay on 5 May 1945 after fire in the nose.
Ford B-24H-25-FO Liberator Serial 42-95234 "Weiser Witch" of the 788th Bomb Squadron. This aircraft crash landed at RAF Bungay on 5 May 1945 after fire in the nose.

Constituted as 467th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 19 May 1943. Activated on 1 August 1943. Prepared for combat with B-24's. Moved to RAF Rackheath, Norfolk in England, Feb-Mar 1944, and assigned to Eighth Air Force. The group was assigned to the 96th Combat Bombardment Wing, and the group tail code was a "Circle-P".

The 467th began operations on 10 April 1944 with an attack by thirty aircraft on an airfield at Bourges in central France. In combat, the unit served chiefly as a strategic bombardment organization, attacking the harbor at Kiel, chemical plants at Bonn, textile factories at Stuttgart, power plants at Hamm, steel works at Osnabruck, the aircraft industry at Brunswick, and other objectives.

In addition to strategic operations, engaged occasionally in support and interdictory missions. Bombed shore installations and bridges near Cherbourg on D-Day, 6 June 1944. Struck enemy troop and supply concentrations near Montreuil on 25 July 1944 to assist the Allied drive across France.

In September, over two weeks the bombers flew gasoline from Rackheath to a forward base at Clastres France for use by the US mechanized forces. Attacked German communications and fortifications during the Battle of the Bulge, Dec 1944-Jan 1945. Hit enemy transportation to assist the Allied assault across the Rhine in March 1945.

The group flew its last combat mission on 25 April and returned to the US to Sioux Falls AAF South Dakota during June and July 1945. The 467th was redesignated as the 467th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy) in August and re-equipped with B-29 Superfortresses in preparation for the planned invasion of Japan. With the end of the war in September, the group was assigned to Strategic Air Command on 21 March 1946. The 467th was deactivated on 4 August 1946.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • Freeman, Roger A. (1978) Airfields of the Eighth: Then and Now. After the Battle ISBN 0900913096
  • Freeman, Roger A. (1991) The Mighty Eighth The Colour Record. Cassell & Co. ISBN 0-304-35708-1
  • Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0892010924.

[edit] External links