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11 May 1944
Battle Honors - Citation of Units - General Orders 11 May 1944. 1st. Bombardment Division.
8th Air Force mission 350; May 11, 1944; Malines, Belgium railroad yard. 447th Bomb Group strike photo
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MARSHALLING YARDS
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| Tonnage dropped | 19 T HE |
MARSHALLING YARDS
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| Tonnage dropped | 82.5 T HE |
AIRFIELD
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| Tonnage dropped | 2.5 T HE |
MARSHALLING YARDS
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| Tonnage dropped | 60 T HE |
MARSHALLING YARDS
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Faulty navigation causes 92nd Combat Bombardment Wing to not find target.
Group
After forming part of the American defence force, first on America's east coast and then on its west, the Group was assigned to the Eighth Air Force in April 1944 and entered combat in May 1944. The Group helped with the preparation for the Normandy...
Group
The 388th Bomb Group flew strategic bombing mission from Knettishall, Suffolk from June 1943 to the end of the war. During this time, though, detachments were sent to Fersfield, Norfolk to conduct Aphrodite missions. In these Aphrodite missions veteran...
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...
| Tonnage dropped | 0.00 |
MARSHALLING YARDS
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| Tonnage dropped | 168 T HE |
AIRFIELD
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| Tonnage dropped | 6 T HE |
MARSHALLING YARDS
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The single B-24 MIA was from the 487th Bomb Group and was piloted by LT COL Beirne LAY, Jr., a prominent Hollywood screen writer. LT COL Lay managed to evade capture. After the war he returned to Hollywood and wrote the screenplay for the famous movie "Twelve O'Clock High" starring Gregory Peck. 2nd Bomb Division was made up of 44th Bomb Group, 93rd Bomb Group, 389th Bomb Group, 392nd Bomb Group, 445th Bomb Group, 446th Bomb Group, 447th Bomb Group, 453rd Bomb Group, 458th Bomb Group, 466th Bomb Group, 467th Bomb Group, 492nd Bomb Group, 486th Bomb Group, 487th Bomb Group. The 492nd Bomb Group flies its first mission.
Division
The groups under the command of the 2nd Bomb Wing came under the command of the 2nd Bomb Division in August 1943. In December 1944, the Division was redesginated the 2nd Air Division.
| Tonnage dropped | 337 T HE |
AIRFIELD
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| Tonnage dropped | 39 T HE |
Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball turret gunner | 389th Bomb Group
James Braa served as a ball turret gunner with the 566th Bomb Squadron of the 389th Bomb Group, flying bombing missions out of Hethel, England. He completed his tour of 30 missions between March and June 1944, flying his final two missions on D-Day.
Military | First Lieutenant | Navigator | 466th Bomb Group
St. Dizier, France 24 Mar 1944; Brunswick, Germany 8 April 1944; Hamm, Germany 22 April 1944; Leipheim, Germany 24 April 1944; Paderborn, Germany 26 April 1944; Siracourt, France 27 April 1944; Mimoyecque, France 28 April 1944; Liege, France 1 May 1944...
Military | 446th Bomb Group
Military | Lieutenant | Navigator | 446th Bomb Group
Flew 25 missions, ending just before D-Day. Flew on D Day just to see it. According to him, he never saw a German fighter but did see lots of flak.
Military | Second Lieutenant | Co-Pilot & Tail Gunner during the mission | 487th Bomb Group
Shot down over occupied France on 11 May 1944 in B-24H #41-29468 'Peg O' My Heart'. After bailing out, Lt Walter Duer landed near Coulonges-les-Sablons, Orne, France, about 15 kilometers to the Northwest of Nogent-le-Rotrou, Eure-et-Loir Department,...
Military | First Lieutenant | Navigator | 466th Bomb Group
Assigned to 785BS, 466BG, 8AF USAAF. Shot down 11-May-44 in B-24 41-28664 'Merchant Of Venice'. Killed in Action (KIA). MACR 4802
Awards: AM, PH.
Military | First Lieutenant | Bombardier/Navigator | 44th Bomb Group The Flying Eightballs
Charles ("Shep") Gordon flew 17 missions as a navigator and 18 as a bombardier with the 44th Bomb Group, flying missions out of Shipdham, England.
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Military | Staff Sergeant (3rd Grade) | general maintenance, spare bomber gunner | 44th Bomb Group The Flying Eightballs
Military | Lieutenant Colonel | Group commander | 100th Bomb Group
Beirne Lay assumed command of the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico on February 28, 1944, his wife was Philippa Ludwell Lee.
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Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot | 466th Bomb Group
Assigned to 785BS, 466BG, 8AF USAAF. Shot down 11-May-44 in B-24 41-28664 'Merchant Of Venice'. Killed in Action (KIA).
Awards: AM (2OLC), PH.
B-24 Liberator
Assigned to 785BS, 466BG, 8AF USAAF. Flew on 466BG's first mission. Failed to Return (FTR)mission to Epinal. A/C seen with one engine feathered and another smoking, radio message received that pilot was heading for Switzerland. Not seen again. 11 x KIA...
B-24 Liberator
B-24 Liberator
B-24 Liberator
It retained the name BREEZY LADY as painted on the pilot's side when transferred to the 458th BG. SUPERMAN was added onto the co-pilot's side.
Later the BREEZY LADY side was renamed MARIE.
B-24 Liberator
Crash-landed and caught fire at Clastres, France, 22 Sep 44, while on loan to 458th BG for truckin' operations.
B-24 Liberator
Crash landed returning from mission #074. Aircraft ran out of fuel while on final approach at Hardwick
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 18 February 2017 23:41:11 | gish1893 | Changes to aircraft associations |
| Sources | ||
Glen Hartzell diary |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:43:06 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| Sources | ||
Lee Cunningham, 8th Air Force missions research database / Stan Bishop's 'Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces', the Combat Chronology of the US Army Air Forces and the work of Roger Freeman including the 'Mighty Eighth War Diary'. |
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