385th Bomb Group

Group
The insignia of the 385th Bomb Group. media-395080.jpg FRE 5137 The insignia of the 385th Bomb Group. Roger Freeman Collection

IWM, Roger Freeman Collection

Object Number - FRE 5137 - The insignia of the 385th Bomb Group.

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

Lieutenant-Colonel Elliot Vandevanter Jr Commanding Officer of the 385th Bomb Group, signs off a medal recommendation with Lieutenant Wagner and Corporal Joseph Fitzgerald. Passed for publication 1 Nov 1943. Printed caption on reverse: 'Presentation Of Awards To The Heroic Flyers Of U.S. Eighth Air Force. So many American flyers of the Eighth Air Force have achieved so many high distinctions that the presentation of medals and awards has become a "big business" in England. One of them is Lt.Col. Preston P

Elliott Vandevanter

  • 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

Alvin Benjamin Andrews

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 385th Bomb Group 549th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 13118986
  • Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Radio Operator
AJ Ardzinski, a tail gunner of the 385th Bomb Group in position inside a B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 42-32059) nicknamed "Poltergeist". Image via Tim Bivens. Bivens has handwritten on reverse: ' AJ Ardzinski- Tail gunner. Fred Heiser crew 550th BS, 385th BG, B-17G-35-BO "Poltergeist" 42-32059.' Bivens enclosed a letter with the print: 7-14-03, Hello Roger, Got another “Mystery B-17” for you. Just recently obtained the enclosed prints from slides taken by the co-pilot Bob James in the photos. A

Anthony J Ardzinski

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 385th Bomb Group 550th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 12150071
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Tail Gunner

Albert E Audette

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 385th Bomb Group 548th Bomb Squadron
  • Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Radio Operator

Allan Babbits

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 385th Bomb Group
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner

Alfred G Barber

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 385th Bomb Group 549th Bomb Squadron
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Waist Gunner

Aircraft

A B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 41-9017) of the 92nd Bomb Group in flight. Passed for publication 5 Sep 1942. Printed caption on reverse: 'Q.13312: A Flying Fortress photographed in flight at a U.S. Training Centre.' On reverse: Westminster Press Provincial Newspapers Ltd and US Army General Section Press & Censorship Bureau [Stamps].

41-9017

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Heidi Ho
  • Unit: 385th Bomb Group 482nd Bomb Group 92nd Bomb Group 94th Bomb Group 97th Bomb Group 327th Bomb Squadron 342nd Bomb Squadron
A formation of B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 91st Bomb Group fly B-17 (serial number 41-9103) nicknamed "Dixie Demo", at Bassingbourn following a raid on Antwerp, 6 April 1943. A censor has obscured a hanger in the background. Image stamped on reverse: 'Reviewed and Passed U.S Army 6 APR 1943 Press Censor No 21 E.T.O U.S.A.' [stamp]. 'Passed for publication 6 APR 1943 INTLD 29 Central Section Press Censorship Bureau' [stamp]. 'Copyright Planet News ?, Johnson's Court, London E.C.4' [stamp].'256834'[Censor

41-9103

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Dixie Demo
  • Unit: 385th Bomb Group 91st Bomb Group 92nd Bomb Group 97th Bomb Group 414th Bomb Squadron

42-102431

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Slick Chick
  • Unit: 385th Bomb Group

42-102465

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Wee Willie Wilber
  • Unit: 385th Bomb Group 551st Bomb Squadron

42-102481

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Kentucky Winner
  • Unit: 385th Bomb Group 550th Bomb Squadron

Mission

898

  • Date: 20 March 1945

883

  • Date: 12 March 1945

Revisions

Date22 Feb 2023 15:56:36
Contributoracbernstein1
Changes
Sources

Contributed courtesy of the 385th BG Association.  https://www.385thbga.com/wp-content/uploads/Fire.pdf 

Date18 Jan 2023 14:51:14
Contributorgeneral ira snapsorter
Changes
Sources
Date22 Sep 2016 00:54:20
Contributorhermanns
ChangesChanges to citations and commanding officers associations
Sources

385th BG website

Date21 Sep 2016 18:25:30
Contributorhermanns
ChangesChanges to nicknames
Sources

Documented source

Date21 Sep 2016 18:24:31
Contributorhermanns
ChangesChanges to insignia
Sources

Documented source

Date10 Apr 2015 18:45:59
ContributorEMBLEMHUNTER
ChangesChanges to mission associations and media associations
Sources

my photo

Date10 Apr 2015 18:44:53
ContributorEMBLEMHUNTER
ChangesChanges to mission associations and media associations
Sources

my photo

Date10 Apr 2015 18:41:32
ContributorEMBLEMHUNTER
ChangesChanges to mission associations and media associations
Sources

my photo

Date10 Apr 2015 18:40:26
ContributorEMBLEMHUNTER
ChangesChanges to mission associations and media associations
Sources

my photo

Date10 Apr 2015 18:38:40
ContributorEMBLEMHUNTER
ChangesChanges to mission associations and media associations
Sources

my photo

Date18 Mar 2015 17:01:28
Contributorclunds
ChangesChanges to nicknames and mission associations
Sources

thought I was tagging pic, not group

Date18 Mar 2015 16:50:18
Contributorclunds
ChangesChanges to nicknames and mission associations
Sources

Official 385th archive files

Date13 Mar 2015 15:15:52
Contributorrossingtonj
ChangesChanges to type and mission associations
Sources

Type added.

Date16 Dec 2014 21:32:25
Contributorclunds
ChangesChanges to nicknames and mission associations
Sources

error with name - thought it was going to a pic, not the whole site!

Date16 Dec 2014 21:31:29
Contributorclunds
ChangesChanges to nicknames, aircraft types and mission associations
Sources

385th official rosters.

Date27 Sep 2014 18:42:45
ContributorAAM
ChangesAAM ingest
Sources

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)

385th Bomb Group: Gallery (467 items)