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
  • 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

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 385th Bomb Group 548th Bomb Squadron
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 385th Bomb Group 550th Bomb Squadron
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: waist gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 385th Bomb Group 551st Bomb Squadron
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Navigator
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 385th Bomb Group 549th Bomb Squadron
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 385th Bomb Group 551st Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-828-285
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Co-Pilot ; Pilot

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Murder Inc., Grim Reaper
  • Unit: 385th Bomb Group 550th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Lulu Belle
  • Unit: 385th Bomb Group 551st Bomb Squadron
Corporal John E. Burkey and Corporal Paul G. Huston of the 385th Bomb Group paint the nose art of a B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 42-30168) nicknamed "Mission Belle". Passed for publication 10 Oct 1943. Handwritten caption on reverse: '230168.' Printed caption on reverse: 'Flying Fortresses In Combat Missions Over Europe. Picture Shows:- Cpl. John E. Burkey, Philadelphia, Pa., and Cpl. Paul G. Huston, Lingure, Pa.; doing a bit of painting on Fortress "Mission Belle" - the ship of 1/Lt. Wayne Horr, A
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Mission Belle
  • Unit: 385th Bomb Group 549th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Gremlin's Buggy
  • Unit: 385th Bomb Group 548th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Raunchy Wolf, El Sabo
  • Unit: 385th Bomb Group 551st Bomb Squadron

Mission

Revisions

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Contributoracbernstein1
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Contributed courtesy of the 385th BG Association.  https://www.385thbga.com/wp-content/uploads/Fire.pdf 

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Contributorhermanns
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385th BG website

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Documented source

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Contributorhermanns
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Documented source

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ContributorEMBLEMHUNTER
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my photo

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ContributorEMBLEMHUNTER
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my photo

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ContributorEMBLEMHUNTER
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my photo

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ContributorEMBLEMHUNTER
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my photo

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ContributorEMBLEMHUNTER
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my photo

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Contributorclunds
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thought I was tagging pic, not group

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Contributorclunds
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Official 385th archive files

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Contributorrossingtonj
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Type added.

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

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Contributorclunds
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385th official rosters.

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ContributorAAM
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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 (611 items)