484th Bombardment Group

History - Books - Aircraft - Time Line - Commanders - Main Bases - Component Units - Assigned To

History

The 484th Bombardment Group was a B-24 group that fought with the Fifteenth Air Force in Italy from April 1944 to April 1945, mainly taking part in the strategic bombing offensive.

The group was formed in the United States in September 1943 and moved to Italy in March-April 1944. It entered combat as a standard bombing unit in April 1944. In the following month it was designated as a pathfinder group, but it never performed that role and instead continued to operate as a bomber group. The pathfinder designation went in November 1944.

The group was awarded two distinguished unit citations for strategic bombing missions. The first came on 13 June 1944. The group's target was railway marshalling yards at Munich, but a German smoke screen prevented them from hitting that target. Under heavy attack from German fighters the group diverted to an alternative target and instead hit marshalling yards at Innsbruck. The second DUC was awarded for an attack on underground oil storage facilities at Vienna on 21 August 1944.

The group also fly a number of tactical missions. During the advance on Rome the group was one of ten B-24 groups that took part in a 17 May 1944 attack on the harbours at Piombion, San Stefano and Porto Ferraio on Elba as part of the campaign to prevent supplies from reaching the German front line. In September 1944 it was used to ferry fuel to the Allied troops fighting in the south of France. In 1945 it supported the Allied advance in the Po Valley, the final offensive of the war in Italy.

In May 1945 the group moved to Casablanca, where it became part of Air Transport Command. The group was inactivated in Morocco on 25 July 1945.

Books

 

Aircraft

Sept 1943-: Consolidated B-24 Liberator

Timeline

14 Sept 1943 Constituted as 484th Bombardment Group (Heavy)
20 Sept 1943 Activated
Mar-Apr 1944 To Italy and Fifteenth Air Force
May 1944 Redesignatead 484th Bombardment Group (Pathfinder)
Nov 1944 Redesignated 484th Bombardment Group (Heavy)
May 1945 To Casablnaca and Air Transport Command
25 July 1945 Inactivated

Commanders (with date of appointment)

Col. William B Keese: Oct 1943
Lt Col Chester C Busch: Apr 1945-unkn.

Main Bases

Harvard AAFld, Neb: 20 Sep 1943-2 Mar 1944
Torretto Airfield, Italy: Apr 1944
Casablanca, French Morocco: c. 25 May-25 Jul 1945.

Component Units

824th Bombardment Squadron: 1943-1945
825th Bombardment Squadron: 1943-1945
826th Bombardment Squadron: 1943-1945
827th Bombardment Squadron: 1943-1945

Assigned To

1944-45: 49th Bombardment Wing; Fifteenth Air Force

How to cite this article: Rickard, J (24 April 2014), 484th Bombardment Group , http://www.historyofwar.org/air/units/USAAF/484th_Bombardment_Group.html

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