493d Bombardment Group
Encyclopedia
Army Service Forces
The Army Service Forces were one of the three autonomous components of the Army of the United States during World War II, the others being the Army Air Forces and Army Ground Forces. They were created on February 28, 1942 by Executive Order Number 9082 "Reorganizing the Army and the War Department"...
, being stationed at Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
. It was inactivated on 28 August 1945.
During World War II, the group was a Eighth Air Force
Eighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
heavy bombardment unit in England, stationed at RAF Debach
RAF Debach
RAF Debach is a former World War II airfield in England. The field is located 3 miles NW of Woodbridge, Suffolk.-USAAF use:Debach was one of the last Eighth Air Force heavy bomber stations to be occupied. being built by the 820th Engineer Battalion of the US Army during 1943/1944...
. The group flew its last combat mission, an attack on marshalling yards at Nauen
Nauen
Nauen is a town in the Havelland district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 38 km west of Berlin and 26 km northwest of Potsdam.-History:...
, on 20 April 1945.
History
Established in September 1943 as a B-24 LiberatorB-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...
heavy bombardment group, being activated on 1 November at McCook Army Airfield
McCook Army Airfield
McCook Army Airfield was activated on 1 April 1943. It is located nine miles northwest of McCook, a city in Red Willow County, Nebraska, United States and is southwest of Lincoln, Nebraska. It was constructed in 1943...
, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
. The 493d was one of seven Heavy Bombardment Groups – 488th through 494th – activated in the autumn of 1943. These were to be the last Army Air Forces heavy bomb groups established.
The origins of the 493d Bomb Group begin as the 13th Antisubmarine Squadron, then retraining as a heavy bombardment unit in B-24s in Pueblo Army Air Base, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
. At Pueblo, the unit became identified as the 493rd Bombardment Group and moved to Davis-Monthan Army Air Field, near Tucson, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
for additional training. The Arizona crews joined other personnel already assembled in McCook in mid-January 1944. Additional officers and men, chiefly from the 34th Bombardment Group training at Blythe Army Air Base, California, were assigned to the Group in February and March. Intensive training of all airmen and support specialists began in January and was only occasionally interrupted by Nebraska's late winter and early spring storms. Air exercises in several models of B-24s included day and night flights, cross-country navigation, simulated bombing, aerial-gunnery practice, and squadron and group formation flying.
Was deployed to the European Theater of Operations
European Theater of Operations
The European Theater of Operations, United States Army was a United States Army formation which directed U.S. Army operations in parts of Europe from 1942 to 1945. It referred to Army Ground Forces, United States Army Air Forces, and Army Service Forces operations north of Italy and the...
(ETO), being assigned to VIII Bomber Command
VIII Bomber Command
The VIII Bomber Command is an inactive United States Army Air Forces unit that is better known as the later appellation Eighth Air Force, as was popularized in post-World War II filmsand is frequently called the First Eighth Air Force by its veterans and successors in the services.The command was...
in England. The 493d was transferred without men or equipment. A ground echelon, staffed with personnel from groups of the VIII Bomber Command 3d Bombardment Division in England was reassigned to RAF Debach
RAF Debach
RAF Debach is a former World War II airfield in England. The field is located 3 miles NW of Woodbridge, Suffolk.-USAAF use:Debach was one of the last Eighth Air Force heavy bomber stations to be occupied. being built by the 820th Engineer Battalion of the US Army during 1943/1944...
, in April 1944. A ground contingent with some aircrew left McCook by train on 2 May for Camp Miles Standish, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, and sailed from Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
on the USS Brazil on 12 May, landed at Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
on 26 May, and arrived at RAF Debach the following day. Aircrews left McCook in early May and flew the northern transport route to the U.K.; via New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...
, thence to Debach by way of Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
and Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, or by way of Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. The group was stationed at Debach until the end of the European War in 1945, with a temporary move to RAF Wormingford
RAF Wormingford
RAF Station Wormingford is a former World War II airfield in Essex, England. The airfield is located approximately northwest of Colchester....
in early 1945 while runways were being repaired at Debach.
The 493rd Bomb Group was the last group to become operational in the Eighth Air Force
Eighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
. The 493rd was assigned to the Third Air Division, 93rd Wing of the VIII Bomber Command on 1 January 1944. Command assignments made in April were to the Third Bomb Division, 93rd Combat Bomb Wing. The Group was composed of the 860th, 861st, 862nd, and 863rd Heavy Bombardment Squadrons. (The 862nd Squadron was established as Third Scouting Force on 1 February 1945. Ground personnel transferred, but aircraft and crews were assigned to the other squadrons. The 862nd rejoined the Group in May.) The group tail code was a "Square-H".
The Group was quartered at Debach except for a temporary move of the air echelon in March 1945 to Station 165, Little Walden, Essex County while runways at Debach were repaired. Combat aircraft included B-24Hs and B-24Js from 6 June to 24 August 1944, and B-17Gs from 8 September 1944 to 20 April 1945.
The 493d BG used B-24's until they were replaced with B-17's in September 1944. The group operated chiefly against industrial and military installations in Germany, attacking an ordnance depot at Magdeburg
Magdeburg
Magdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....
, marshalling yards at Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, synthetic oil plants at Merseburg
Merseburg
Merseburg is a town in the south of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt on the river Saale, approx. 14 km south of Halle . It is the capital of the Saalekreis district. It had a diocese founded by Archbishop Adalbert of Magdeburg....
, a railroad tunnel at Ahrweiler
Ahrweiler
Ahrweiler is a district in the north of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the districts Euskirchen, Rhein-Sieg and the city Bonn in the state North Rhine-Westphalia, and the districts of Neuwied, Mayen-Koblenz and Vulkaneifel.- History :The region was conquered by the Romans under...
, bridges at Irlich, factories at Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, and other strategic objectives.
Additional operations included striking airfields, bridges, and gun batteries prior to and during the invasion of Normandy
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
in June 1944; hitting enemy positions to assist ground forces south of Caen
Caen
Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....
and at Saint-Lô
Saint-Lô
Saint-Lô is a commune in north-western France, the capital of the Manche department in Normandy.-History:Originally called Briovère , the town is built on and around ramparts. Originally it was a Gaul fortified settlement...
in July 1944; bombing German fortifications to cover the airborne attack on Holland in September 1944; attacking enemy communications during the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
, December 1944 – January 1945; and assisting the airborne assault across the Rhine
Operation Varsity
Operation Varsity was a successful joint American–British airborne operation that took place toward the end of World War II...
in March 1945. The 493d Bomb Group flew its last combat mission, an attack on marshalling yards at Nauen
Nauen
Nauen is a town in the Havelland district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 38 km west of Berlin and 26 km northwest of Potsdam.-History:...
, on 20 April 1945.
The Group redeployed to the United States. in July and August 1945. Aircraft and crews began taking off for the last time from Debach on 30 June. The ground echelon sailed home on the Queen Elizabeth on 6 August and debarked in New York on 11 August. All personnel were granted a 30-day leave. The Group was established at Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
on 12 August, however the Japanese Capitulation negated the need for the unit to train in B-29s and re-deploy to the Pacific Theater. The personnel were demobilized and the unit was inactivated there on 28 August 1945.
Lineage
- Constituted as 493d Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 14 September 1943
- Activated on 1 November 1943
- Inactivated on 28 August 1945
Assignments
- Second Air ForceSecond Air ForceThe Second Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Education and Training Command . It is headquartered at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi....
, 1 November 1943 - Eighth Air ForceEighth Air ForceThe Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
, 1 January 1944 - 93d Combat Bombardment Wing, April 1944-6 August 1945
- Army Service ForcesArmy Service ForcesThe Army Service Forces were one of the three autonomous components of the Army of the United States during World War II, the others being the Army Air Forces and Army Ground Forces. They were created on February 28, 1942 by Executive Order Number 9082 "Reorganizing the Army and the War Department"...
(for inactivation), 12–28 August 1945
Components
- 860th Bombardment Squadron860th Bombardment SquadronThe 860th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 493d Bombardment Group. It was inactivated at Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota on 28 August 1945.-History:...
(NG), 1 November 1943 – 28 August 1945 - 861st Bombardment Squadron861st Bombardment SquadronThe 861st Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 493d Bombardment Group. It was inactivated at Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota on 28 August 1945.-History:...
(G6), 1 November 1943 – 28 August 1945 - 862d Bombardment Squadron (8M), 1 November 1943 – 28 August 1945
- 863d Bombardment Squadron863d Bombardment SquadronThe 863d Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 493d Bombardment Group, based at Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota...
(Q4). 1 November 1943 – 28 August 1945
Stations
- McCook Army AirfieldMcCook Army AirfieldMcCook Army Airfield was activated on 1 April 1943. It is located nine miles northwest of McCook, a city in Red Willow County, Nebraska, United States and is southwest of Lincoln, Nebraska. It was constructed in 1943...
, NebraskaNebraskaNebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, 1 Nov 1943 – 1 Jan 1944 - RAF Elvedon Hall (AAF-116), England, 1 Jan 1944
- RAF DebachRAF DebachRAF Debach is a former World War II airfield in England. The field is located 3 miles NW of Woodbridge, Suffolk.-USAAF use:Debach was one of the last Eighth Air Force heavy bomber stations to be occupied. being built by the 820th Engineer Battalion of the US Army during 1943/1944...
(AAF-152), England, 17 Apr 1944 - RAF WormingfordRAF WormingfordRAF Station Wormingford is a former World War II airfield in Essex, England. The airfield is located approximately northwest of Colchester....
(AAF-159), England, 17 Feb 1945 - RAF DebachRAF DebachRAF Debach is a former World War II airfield in England. The field is located 3 miles NW of Woodbridge, Suffolk.-USAAF use:Debach was one of the last Eighth Air Force heavy bomber stations to be occupied. being built by the 820th Engineer Battalion of the US Army during 1943/1944...
(AAF-152), England, 18 May-6 Aug 1945 - Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South DakotaSouth DakotaSouth Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
, c. 13–28 Aug 1945