Assigned 9th AAF: 9 August 1942

Wing/Command Assignment

Combat Aircraft:

Stations

First Mission: 6th march 1944 to Bernay St. Martin airfield in France.

Last Combat: #261 to Erding airfiled in Germany, 26 April 1945.

Missions: XXX
Aircraft MIA: Only 26 aircraft lost in 144 missions from England

Major Awards:

Claims to Fame

Marauders had leats attrition rate of any World War II bombers, and the 344th contributed to this. Aided disablement of German communication pre D-Day. 344th was lead group of the entire 9th AAF bombing raid on D-Day. The mission was to wipe out coastal batteries at Utah beach. Success was outstanding with only one plane destroyed and landings achieved with minimum casualties (unlike Omaha where defences were not destroyed by B-17s). Lead pilot was Lt. Jens Norgaard. DUC for post invasion raids 24th - 27th July 1944. Battle of the Bulge saw 344th give vital air support. Dropped over 7,700 tons of munitions whilst based at Stansted. Attacked V1 rocket sites in 'no ball' operations only days after they were first launched on England. Many of the B-26s of the 344th completed their tour of Duty with well over 100 missions. The most famous ones being 'Terre Haute Tornado' and 'Rosie O'Brady'

Early History:

Subsequent History: