487th Bomber Group

8th Air Force 487th BG

Squadrons of the 487th BG

836th Bombardment Squadron - Heavy
837th Bombardment Squadron - Heavy
838th Bombardment Squadron -Heavy
839th Bombardment Squadron - Heavy

Assigned 8th AAF: April 1944.

Wing/Command Assignment

3 BD, 92 CBW: 5 Apr. 1944.
3 BD, 4 BW(P): 22 Nov. 1944.
3 AD, 4 BW(P): 1 Jan. 1945.
3 AD, 4 CBW: 16 Feb. 1945

Combat Aircraft:

B-24H
B-24J
B-17G

Stations

LAVENHAM 4 April 1944 - 24 August 1945

Group COs

Lt Col Beirne Lay Jr: 28 Feb. 1944 - 11 May 1944 MlA-evaded.
Col Robert Taylor lIl: 12 May 1944 - 27 Dec. 1944.
Col William K. Martin: 28 Dec. 1944 - May 1945.
Col Nicholas T. Perkins: 3 Jun. 1945 - Aug. 1945.

First Mission: 7 May 1944
Last Mission: 21 Apr 1945
Missions: 185
Total Sorties: 6,021
Total Bomb Tonnage: 14,041 Tons
Aircraft MIA: 48

Major Awards:

None

Claims to Fame
Led largest 8th AF mission of war on 24 December 1944.
Led 3AD in bombing accuracy from January 1945 to end of war with strikes within 1,000 ft MPI.

Early History:

Activated 20 September 1943 at Bruning AAFd, Neb., and moved to Alamogordc AAFd, NM. on the 15 of December 1944 to complete training. Ground unit left Alamogordo on the 10 March 1944 for Camp Kilmer, NJ. and sailed on Duchess of Bedford on the 23 March 1944, arriving in Gourock on the 3rd April 1944. The aircraft flew overseas on the 23 March 1944, taking southern ferry route to the UK arriving Nuts Corner, Valley and Prestwick in early April 1945.

Subsequent History:

Redeployed to the US July 1945. The aircraft left Lavenham on the first week of July 1945. The ground unit sailed on the Queen Elizabeth on the 25th August 1945, and arriving in New York on the 1 September 1945. The Group established at Drew Fd, Fla 3 September 1945, and inactivated there on the 7 November 1945.