489th Bomber Group
Squadrons of the 489th BG
844th Bombardment Squadron - Heavy845th Bombardment Squadron - Heavy
846th Bombardment Squadron -Heavy
847th Bombardment Squadron - Heavy
Assigned 8th AAF: April 1944
Wing/Command Assignment
2 BD, 95 CBW 5 Mar 1944
2 AD, 20 CBW 14 Aug 1944
2 AD, 20 CBW 14 Aug 1944
Combat Aircraft:
B-24H
B-24J
B-24J
Stations
HALESWORTH 22 April 1944 - 29 November 1944.
Group COs
Col Ezekiel W. Napier: 20 October 1943 to 29 November 1944.
First Mission: 30 May 1944
Last Mission: 10 Nov 1944
Missions: 106
Total Sorties: 2,998
Total Bomb Tonnage: 6,951 Tons
Aircraft MIA: 29
Other Op Loses: 12
Major Awards:
Medal of Honor: Lt Col Leon R. Vance: 5 June 1944
First Mission: 30 May 1944
Last Mission: 10 Nov 1944
Missions: 106
Total Sorties: 2,998
Total Bomb Tonnage: 6,951 Tons
Aircraft MIA: 29
Other Op Loses: 12
Major Awards:
Medal of Honor: Lt Col Leon R. Vance: 5 June 1944
Claims to Fame
Only Medal of Honor awarded to a B-24 crewman for an action flown from UK.
Early History:
Activated 1 October 1943 at Wendover Fd, Utah. Completed unit formation and
training of the Group took place at this base. Left Wendover on the 3rd April
1944. The aircraft flew to the UK via the southern ferry route. The ground unit
sailed from Boston on USS Wakefield on the 13 April 1944.
Subsequent History:
Selected for redeployment to the Pacific theatre and became non operational
on the 14th November 1944. Relieved of assignment on the 29 November 1944, and
returned to the US. The aircraft were reassigned to depots or other units in
the UK. The Group was established at Bradley Fd, Conn. pn the 12 December 1944,
and was shortly thereafter transferred to Lincoln AFB, Neb. to train as a B-29
unit. Equipped with this aircraft at Great Bend AAFd, Kan. from March 1945.
The unit was alerted for movement to the Pacific late in the summer of 1945,
but with termination of hostilities remained in US and was inactivated on the
17 October