25th Bomb Group
Group
IWM, Roger Freeman Collection
Object Number - FRE 3069 - A B-26 Marauder of the 654th Bomb Squadron, 25th Bomb Group, parked on a runway. Handwritten on reverse: '654 BS.'
The 25th Bombardment Group (Reconnaissance) was constituted in the days after D-Day and activated in England in August 1944 to carry out photographic and mapping missions over mainland Europe as the Allied armies pushed east. The Group were designated a Bombardment Group but they did not drop bombs. Instead they flew bombers to drop 'chaff' screenings for other Bomb Groups. 'Chaff', strips of metallic paper, would interfere with the enemy's ability to detect aircraft using radar.
Commanding Officers
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: No 1 Combat Crew Replacement Center 25th Bomb Group 652nd Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Major
- Role/Job: Pilot; Commanding Officer
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 25th Bomb Group 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group
- Highest Rank: Colonel
- Role/Job: Commanding Officer
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 25th Bomb Group 652nd Bomb Squadron Headquarters (Eighth Air Force)
- Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
- Role/Job: Pilot / Commanding Officer
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 25th Bomb Group 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group
- Service Numbers: 32982801 / O-44665
- Highest Rank: Colonel
- Role/Job: Commanding Officer
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
Unit stations
| Station | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
|
Based |
Watton | 22 April 1944 - 23 July 1945 |
Previously was
Encompassing
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 25th Bomb Group 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 25th Bomb Group
- Service Numbers: 33727073
- Highest Rank: Corporal
- Role/Job: Ground Crew
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Civilian
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 25th Bomb Group 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group 18th Weather Squadron
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 25th Bomb Group 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group 22nd Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron 654th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 33331531
- Highest Rank: Corporal (RAF)
- Role/Job: Reconnaissance photographer
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 25th Bomb Group 652nd Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: Mosquito
- Unit: 25th Bomb Group 654th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: Mosquito
- Unit: 25th Bomb Group 653rd Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: Mosquito
- Unit: 25th Bomb Group
- Aircraft Type: Mosquito
- Nicknames: Pamelia
- Unit: 25th Bomb Group 653rd Bomb Squadron
![Ground crew of the 25th Bomb Group spray foam onto the crashed Mosquito (serial number NS748) at Watton, 19 April 1945. Official caption printed on image: '(G-AD-[illegible])(19-4-45)(MOS.748CRASH)(REST.)'](https://assets.americanairmuseum.com/s3fs-public/styles/teaser_thumb_x2/public/freeman/media-378760.jpg.webp?itok=TJkJfBbS)
- Aircraft Type: Mosquito
- Unit: 25th Bomb Group 654th Bomb Squadron
Mission
Revisions
"The 25th Bomb Group in World War II" - Norman Malayney
page 280
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).
