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489th Bomb Group

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489th Bomb Group
846th Bombardment SquadronB-24[note 1]
Active1943–1945; 2015–present
CountryUnited States
BranchUnited States Air Force
RoleBombardment
Part ofAir Force Reserve Command
Garrison/HQDyess Air Force Base
Motto(s)Ex Tenebris Lux VeritatisLatinOut of Darkness, the Light of Truth[1]
EngagementsEuropean Theater of Operations
Commanders
Current
commander		Col. Christopher G. Hawn[2](as of 13 July 2019)
Insignia
489th Bomb Group emblem[note 2][3]
489th Bombardment Group emblem(World War II)[1][note 3]
Eighth Air Force tail code[1][note 4]Circle W

The489th Bomb Group(489 BG) is a unit of theUnited States Air Forcewithin theAir Force Reserve Command.It is assigned to the307th Bomb Wing,and is stationed atDyess Air Force Base,Texas. The group is a reserve associate unit of the7th Bomb Wingat Dyess.

DuringWorld War II,the489th Bombardment Groupwas aConsolidated B-24 Liberatorunit. After training in the United States, it moved to England as an element ofEighth Air Force,stationed atRAF Halesworth,England. Lieutenant ColonelLeon Vanceof the group was awarded theMedal of Honorfor his bravery and actions on the day beforeD-DayoverWimereux, France.It was the only Medal of Honor awarded to a B-24 crewman for a mission flown from England.[4][note 5]The group returned to the United States in November 1944 and converted to aBoeing B-29 Superfortressgroup, but the war ended before the group could deploy to the Pacific.

In October 2015, the group was reactivated in theAir Force Reserve.

History

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World War II

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Media related to489th Bombardment Group (United States Army Air Forces)at Wikimedia Commons

Training in the United States

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The489th Bombardment Group,Heavy was activated as aConsolidated B-24 Liberatorheavy bombergroupon 1 October 1943 atWendover Field,Utah.[5]Its original squadrons were the844th,845th,846thand847th Bombardment Squadrons.[6][7][8]Shortly after organizing, key personnel left for training with theArmy Air Forces School of Applied Tacticsin Florida, where it flew simulated combat missions in company with the491st Bombardment Groupleadership, which was at a similar point in its training.[9]The group completed combat training and departed Wendover on 3 April 1944.[5]The air echelon flew to the UK via the southern ferry route along the northern coastline of South America and across the Atlantic to Africa before heading North to England.[4]The ground echelon sailed from Boston on board theUSSWakefieldon 13 April 1944, reachingLiverpoolon 21 April.[10]The group moved toRAF Halesworth,England in May 1944, where it became part ofEighth Air Force.[5]

Combat in Europe

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The group entered combat on 30 May 1944 with an attack onOldenburg,Germany.[10]It then concentrated on targets striking in France to prepare forOperation Overlord,the invasion of Normandy. In an attack againstcoastal defensesnearWimereux, Franceon 5 June, the group's lead plane was seriously crippled by enemy fire, its pilot was killed, and the deputy group commander,Lt ColLeon Vance,who was commanding the formation, was severely wounded. Although his right foot was practically severed, Vance took control of the plane and led the group to a successful bombing of the target. He flew the damaged Liberator near the English coastline where he ordered the crew to bail out. Under the belief that one wounded crewmember could not jump, Vance ditched the plane in theEnglish Channeland was rescued. For his action during this mission, Vance was awarded theMedal of Honor.[5][note 6]

The group supported the landings inNormandythe following day, and afterward bombed coastal defenses, airfields, bridges, railroads, andV-1 flying bombandV-2 rocketlaunch sites (Operation Crossbow) in the campaign for France. It participated in the saturation bombing of German lines just beforeOperation Cobra,the breakthrough atSaint-Lôin July. The group dropped food to liberated French and to Allied forces in France during August and September, and carried food and ammunition to theNetherlandslater in September.[5]For these missions, a loadmaster fromIX Troop Carrier Commanddirected the drops from the bombers.[11]On other missions, group aircraft flew intoOrleans/Bricy Airfieldto deliver supplies.[12]

The 489th began flying strategic bombing missions to Germany in July, and engaged primarily in bombing strategic targets such as factories,oil refineriesand storage areas,marshalling yards,andairfieldsinLudwigshafen,Magdeburg,Brunswick,Saarbrücken,and other cities until November 1944.[5]At that time it was the first group in Eighth Air Force selected for redeployment to the Pacific theater and became non-operational on 14 November 1944 and most of its B-24s were assigned to other groups in England. It was relieved of assignment to the theater on 29 November 1944, and returned to the United States.[4][10]

Redeployment for the Pacific

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The 489th Bomb Group returned toBradley FieldConnecticut at the end of December 1944, where most returning personnel were reassigned to other units[4]while the group moved toLincoln Army Air Field,Nebraska. At Lincoln it again became part ofSecond Air Forceon 22 January 1945, they were informed that previous plans for refresher training had been cancelled and instead the group and its associated 369th Air Service Group were retrained asBoeing B-29 Superfortresscombat and support units. However Second Air Force did not receive redesignation orders for the group until 17 March, until which time they were compelled to maintain duplicate rosters and tables of organization, one for a heavy bombardment group of four squadrons, and one for a very heavy bombardment group of three squadrons. The readiness date for the group air echelon was set back from 1 March to 1 August 1945.[citation needed]The group moved toGreat Bend Army Air Field,Kansas in mid-February to re-equip with the B-29,[4]and was redesignated the489th Bombardment Group,Very Heavy in March.[5]

The group was alerted for movement overseas in the summer of 1945, but with theJapanese surrender,the group was inactivated on 17 October 1945.[5]

Air Force Reserve

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The Air Force reactivated the group as theAir Force Reserve Command's489th Bomb Groupon 17 October 2015, exactly 70 years after it was inactivated.[3]The 489th operates fromDyess Air Force Basenear Abilene, Texas, flyingRockwell B-1 Lancersand is an associate unit of the Regular Air Force's7th Bomb Wing,operating the same aircraft. The 489th is assigned to the307th Bomb Wing,aBoeing B-52 Stratofortressunit atBarksdale Air Force Base,Louisiana. Both the 489th and the 307th are "operationally-gained" byAir Force Global Strike Commandwhenmobilized.[13]

Lineage

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  • Constituted as the489th Bombardment Group,Heavy on 14 September 1943
Activated on 1 October 1943
Redesignated489th Bombardment Group,Very Heavy on 17 March 1945
Inactivated on 17 October 1945[14]
  • Redesignated489th Bomb Groupon 8 October 2015
Activated in the Air Force Reserve on 17 October 2015[13][3]

Assignments

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Components

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Operational squadrons
  • 345th Bomb Squadron,17 October 2015 – present[13]
  • 844th Bombardment Squadron, 1 October 1943 – 17 October 1945[6]
  • 845th Bombardment Squadron, 1 October 1943 – 17 October 1945[7]
  • 846th Bombardment Squadron, 1 October 1943 – 17 October 1945[7]
  • 847th Bombardment Squadron, 13 October 1943 – 28 March 1945[8]
Support units
  • 489th Maintenance Squadron, 17 October 2015 – Present[13]
  • 489th Aerospace Medical Flight, 17 October 2015 – Present[13]
  • 1st Photographic Laboratory (Bombardment Group, Very Heavy), 17 March 1944 – 17 October 1945

Stations

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Aircraft

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  • Consolidated B-24 Liberator, 1943–1944[5]
  • Boeing B-29 Superfortress, 1945[5]
  • Rockwell B-1B Lancer, 2015–present[13]

Campaigns

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Campaign Streamer Campaign Dates Notes
Air Offensive, Europe c. 1 May 1943 – 5 June 1944 489th Bombardment Group[5]
Normandy 6 June 1944 – 24 July 1944 489th Bombardment Group[5]
Northern France 25 July 1944 – 14 September 1944 489th Bombardment Group[5]
Rhineland 15 September 1944-November 1944 489th Bombardment Group[5]

See also

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References

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Notes

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  1. ^Aircraft is Ford built Consolidated B-24H-20-FO Liberator serial 42-94860.
  2. ^Approved 23 May 2016.
  3. ^Apparently, the group never received official approval of this emblem.SeeMaurer,Combat Units,pp. 358–359. (No official emblem).
  4. ^This code was also displayed on the aircraft wing. The group adopted an all yellow tail marking shortly after arriving in England and few aircraft displayed the assigned marking on the tail in addition to the wing. Watkins, pp. 114–115.
  5. ^Enid Air Force Base, Oklahoma was renamedVance Air Force Basein memory of Col. Vance on 9 July 1949. Mueller, p. 567.
  6. ^In late July Lt Col Vance was evacuated back to the United States for medical treatment. The plane he was on disappeared over the Atlantic and all aboard were lost. Mueller, p. 567.

Citations

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  1. ^abcWatkins, pp. 114–115
  2. ^Master Sgt. Ted Daigle (13 July 2019)."New commander for the 489th Bomb Group".307th Bomb Wing.Retrieved1 August2020.
  3. ^abcHaulman, Daniel L. (27 July 2017)."Factsheet 489 Bomb Group (AFRC)".Air Force Historical Research Agency.Retrieved26 July2021.
  4. ^abcdefgFreeman, p. 261
  5. ^abcdefghijklmnMaurer,Combat Units,pp. 358–359
  6. ^abMaurer,Combat Squadrons,pp. 778–779
  7. ^abcMaurer,Combat Squadrons,p. 779
  8. ^abMaurer,Combat Squadrons,pp. 779–780
  9. ^Blue, p. 80
  10. ^abcFreudenthal, Charles H."498th Bomb Group Museum:History of the 489th Bomb Group".489th-bomb-group-museum.org.Retrieved19 October2015.
  11. ^Freeman, p. 175
  12. ^Freeman, p. 172
  13. ^abcdefghStaff writer(s) (13 October 2015)."489th Bomb Group reactivates".Shreveport Times.Retrieved19 October2015.
  14. ^Lineage and station information through 1945 in Maurer,Combat Units,pp. 358–359
  15. ^abAssignment and station information in Haulman, except as noted.
  16. ^Station number in Anderson

Bibliography

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Public DomainThis article incorporatespublic domain materialfrom theAir Force Historical Research Agency

Further reading

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  • Bodle, Peter (2010).The 489th Bomb Group in Suffolk: A Pictorial History of the USAAF's 489th Bombardment Group at Halesworth, During WWII.Liberator Publishing.ISBN978-0-956180-34-6.
  • Craven, Wesley F; Cate, James L, eds. (1955).The Army Air Forces in World War II(PDF).Vol. VII, Services Around the World. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press.OCLC704158.
  • Freeman, Roger A. (1978)Airfields of the Eighth: Then and Now.After the BattleISBN0-900913-09-6
  • Freeman, Roger A. (2001)The Mighty Eighth: The Colour Record.CassellISBN0-304-35708-1
  • Sutherland, Earl (2010).Just an 18 Year Old During World War II.Morrisville NC: LuLu.ISBN978-1-4357-2027-5.
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