385th Bomb Group
GroupIWM, Roger Freeman Collection
The 385th Bomb Group, who took the nickname "Van's Valiants" after their first Commanding Officer Col. Elliot Vandevanter, flew B-17s from Great Ashfield, Suffolk. The Group led the famous attack on the Focke-Wolfe aircraft factory at Marienburg on 9 October 1943, during which only two out of one hundred B-17s were lost and all of the buildings on the site were damaged or destroyed. They won two Distinguished Unit Citations. The first, awarded to all 4th Bomb Wing Groups, was for accurately dropping their pay load on an aircraft factory at Regensburg, on 17 August 1943 and the Group's second was awarded after leading a difficult long-range mission to destroy an aircraft repair works at Zwickau, south-west Germany, on 12 May 1944.
Commanding Officers
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 385th Bomb Group
- Service Numbers: O-21989
- Highest Rank: Brigadier General
- Role/Job: Commanding Officer
Connections
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Unit stations
Station | Location | Date |
---|---|---|
Based |
Great Ashfield | 28 June 1943 - 4 August 1945 |
Encompassing
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 385th Bomb Group 548th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 32214948 / O-677681
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 385th Bomb Group 548th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 385th Bomb Group 548th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 385th Bomb Group 551st Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Tail Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 385th Bomb Group
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Radar Operator
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Homesick Angel
- Unit: 385th Bomb Group 549th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Unit: 385th Bomb Group 551st Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Unit: 385th Bomb Group
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Liberty Belle
- Unit: 385th Bomb Group 549th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Slo Jo
- Unit: 385th Bomb Group 550th Bomb Squadron
Mission
- Date: 15 August 1944
- Date: 5 August 1944
- Date: 14 July 1944
- Date: 6 July 1944
- Date: 14 June 1944
Revisions
Contributed courtesy of the 385th BG Association. https://www.385thbga.com/wp-content/uploads/Fire.pdf
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database / The Mighty Eighth. A History of the Units, Men and Machines of the US 8th Air Force.' by Roger A. Freeman (1989). 'Air Force Combat Units of World War II' compiled by the Department of the US Air Force, edited by Maurice Maurer (1983). / Units in the UK from ETOUSA Station List, as transcribed by Lt. Col. Philip Grinton (US Army, Retired) and extracted by IWM; air division data from L.D. Underwood, based on the 8th Air Force Strength Report of 6th August 1944, as published in 'The 8th Air Force Yearbook' by Lt. Col. John H Woolnough (1980)