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Edmund F "Misch" Auer, Mayfield R Shilling, Francis C "Eb" Eberhart and Ralph R Searle of the 487th Bomb Group outside the 838th Bomb Squadron operations room at Lavenham, 1944.
This photo was probably taken soon after the 487th Bomb Group arrived in England in April 1944.
This contains information written on the back of the original print and some of it may be inaccurate.
Officers of the 487th Bomb Group outside the 838th Bomb Squadron operations room.
Group
The 487th Bomb Group began operations as preparations for D-Day were reaching their crescendo and played their part by bombing airfields in northern France. Like the 486th Bomb Group, the 487th switched to B-17 Flying Fortress for missions from 1...
Squadron
Military | Captain | Lead Navigator
Military | Lieutenant Colonel | Commanding Officer
33 missions--13 B-24, 20 B-17
Flew on B-24H 42-52763 Blow Job
DFC 1C, AM 4C
Military | First Lieutenant | Bombardier
Lt Searle was Squadron Bombardier of the 838th Bomb Squadron during training in the States from September to December 1943. He flew overseas as bombardier on the crew of Lt Richard A. Ridlen, 837th Bomb Squadron, and was later transferred to the 418th...
Military | Major | Air Leader
Mayfield R. Shilling (16 Jul 1918 – 28 Jul 1997), U.S. Army Air Corps, of Texas. He was a pilot, operations officer, and air leader in the 838th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group (Heavy), based at Army Air Forces Station 137, Lavenham, Suffolk,...
Military site : airfield
Lavenham was built as a standard USAAF bomber airfield, with fifty hardstandings, T2 hangars and 2,000 and 1,400 feet runways. John Laing and Son Ltd. carried out the work in 1943, and the airfield opened in April 1944. The 487th Bomb Group occupied...
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 04 June 2019 14:44:31 | Emily | Changes to caption |
| Sources | ||
Transferred biographical details to peoples' biographies |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 22 March 2019 19:20:20 | PaulWebber | Changes to caption |
| Sources | ||
Minor grammatical editing of caption |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 19 February 2018 20:08:41 | PaulWebber | Changes to caption |
| Sources | ||
1. Burbridge, Leo M., ed. 'The History of the 487th Bombardment Group, 22 September 1943 to 7 November 1945'. San Angelo, TX: Newsfoto Yearbooks, 1946 (aka Blue Book; out of print) |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 20 April 2015 04:03:53 | PaulWebber | Changes to caption, person associations and place associations |
| Sources | ||
1. 487th Bomb Group Association, www.487thbg.org |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 20 April 2015 03:39:11 | PaulWebber | Changes to caption |
| Sources | ||
1. 487th Bomb Group Association | www.487thbg.org |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 08 September 2014 15:18:08 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
IWM, Roger Freeman Collection |
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