The cadre of 35 Officers and 155 Enlisted Men from the 470th Bombardment Group (Heavy) at AAB Mountain Home, Idaho assembled at AAB Mountain Home on orders of 9 September 43.  On 12 September 43 the Air Echelon of Group and Squadron flying officers, key operational and intelligence personnel proceeded to Army Air Force School of Applied Tactics, Orlando, Florida under command of Captain Garnet B. Palmer, Group Operations Officer.  The Ground Echelon remained at AAB Mountain Home with command of Group and Squadrons by 1/Lt James A. Seccaffico, which command was not relinquished until 17 October 44. 

        The Air Echelon was joined at Orlando on 17 September 43 by GroupCommander Colonel Frederic E. Glantzberg (date of order unknown) and Deputy Group Commander Lt.  Colonel Albert J. Shower on orders dated 23 August 43.  The last two weeks of September were spent in classes conducted by AAFSAT in the latest tactics in the European Theater of Operations.  At the end of September, the Group had 59 officers and 178 enlisted men. 

       In the first ten days of October the Air Echelon was at AAB Pinecastle, Florida, where ten simulated combat missions were briefed, seven of which were launched and five completed; two aborted due to adverse base or target weather conditions.  The Air Echelon returned to AAB Salt Lake City, Utah arriving there on 15 October, while the Ground Echelon that had further manned at AAB Mountain Home, arrived at Camp Kearns, Utah on 16 October.  Colonel Glantzberg assumed command of the 467th on 17 October 43 and Squadron Commanders vice Seccaffico were executed that day.  Glantzberg stayed as Commander only to 24 October 43 when he was relieved and assigned as Group Commander of the 461st  BG(H).  Lt.  Colonel Shower became Group Commander that date and he was the last Commander of the Group, relinquishing command on 10 September 45 when the Group was redesignated 467th  Bombardment Group (Very Heavy) for transition to and training in B-29 Very Heavy Bombers.  Lt.  Col.  Allen F. Herzberg joined the Group in October as Deputy Commander.  On the last day of October 1943 the Group had a total of 69 officers, 995 enlisted men and four training aircraft, B-24D models, and was ordered to AAB Wendover, Utah for phase training. 

       It took two troop trains to transport the Group from Camp Kearns to AAB Wendover.  AAB Wendover was on me Utah-Nevada border and was deficient in most expected amenities; construction on it/of it was not completed.  The training aircraft available were old.  "war wearies;" maintenance was made extra difficult due to the weather conditions.  The Group set to work, however, with dispatch and single purposefulness toward going overseas.  Personnel continued to arrive; the rosters were constantly changing.  From the top down the right man was being sought for every job.  In fact, when the Group went overseas in February 44 only six officers of the Group who went to AAFSAT remained.  Transferred to the Group on 3 November were twenty three crews, consisting of Pilot, Co-pilot, Navigator, Engineer, Radio Operator and one Career Gunner, from the 18th Replacement Wing, and on 6 November twenty ten-men crews from the 470th Bombardment Group (Heavy) with three aircraft.  The remainder of November after arrival at AAB Wendover was concerned with continuing organization of the Group and Squadrons and completion of the first, Pilots, phase of training wherein pilots/ co-pilots were certified, crew orientation and training progressed, with the four squadrons flying 262 sorties, 900-plus hours.  At the month's end there were 390 officers, 1,660 enlisted men and seventeen aircraft, B-24Ds, in the Group.  

       In December the second Bombardiers, phase of training was completed.  The squadrons flew 652 sorties (fourteen additional aircraft, B-24Hs, were received in the first week of December), dropped 1,621 practice bombs and made 177 camera attacks.  Two aircraft and twenty-five crewmen were lost in a mid-air collision on Christmas Eve day.  No count of officers or enlisted men is available at month end, but a note was found stating that twenty-three aircraft, B-24Hs, were assigned to the Group. 
 
       Third and last phase, Navigators, was completed through 20 January 44 with 396 sorties flown. 1,125 bombs dropped and 250,000 rounds of ammunition fired.  In the phase, three crews and aircraft were lost in crashes in the period. 

       The Inspection Team to qualify the Group for overseas service arrived 17 January, and the Group flew its Preparation For Overseas Movement Mission (POM) on 18 January which was unacceptable to the inspectors.  Additional training was accomplished in the remainder of January toward a second POM inspection.  At the end of the month the Group had 69 crews and 59 B-24H aircraft assigned, 29 Group Staff Officers and 67 Squadron Staff Officers. 

       Further training in February led up to the second POM inspection in early February which, though not entirely satisfactory, nevertheless did not stop the Ground Echelon and 108 aircrew personnel from departing on 12 February 44 in four troop trains to the Port of Embarkation at Camp Shanks, New Jersey while the Air Echelon in 59 aircraft with three crews as passengers flew to AAF Herington, Kansas on 12, 13 and 14 February for further practice missions and a final POM inspection, a 36-plane formation to Kansas City, Missouri.  With one major glitch, the POM Inspector’s aircraft aborted the mission, the Group passed and on 26/27 February the Air Echelon was an route to Morrison Field, Florida to begin their overseas flights.  On arrival at Morrison Field they came under command of the Air Transport Command for direction to their overseas destination via the Southern Ferry Route, Waller Field, Trinidad; Belem, Brazil; Fortaleza and Natal, Brazil; Dakar; Marrakech, Morocco; Prestwick, Scotland; Valley and Mangan, Wales; then to Rackheath.  One crew ferrying an ATC B-24 was lost in a takeoff accident at Agadir, Morocco and a crew and Group aircraft were lost in a crash in the Atlas Mountains of North Africa. 

       Fifty-eight Group aircraft and crews arrived at Rackheath, one as early as 8 March 44, with the preponderance on 11th, 12th and 13th and the final nine on 26 March 44.  One aircraft was rendered unfit for further flight after landing downwind on Rackheath on 20 March. 

       The Ground movement, in the meantime, boarded the 'SS Frederick Lykes," a C-3 freighter converted to troop transport, at New York on 28 February 44 and sailed the following day in convoy.  Left behind with a broken propeller shaft after one day at sea, upon repair after five hours, the 'Lykes" caught up with the convoy and arrived in Glasgow, Scotland on 10 March, where the echelon boarded trains for the overnight trip to Rackheath, where they arrived on 11 March as eleven aircraft of the Group were arriving. 

       Rackheath, Station 145, was constructed on the estate of Sir Edward Stracy, Bart.  It was approximately five miles northeast of Norwich, on the Wroxham Road, in the County of Norfolk.  Construction was accomplished by John Laing and Son, Ltd. at a cost of approximately one million pounds (four million plus collars).  Accommodations for 500 officers and 2,400 enlisted men were provided in ten living sites.  The living standards were not up to those that had been experienced on domestic bases; there was no sewerage system for instance, ablution buildings in the living areas had running water but "honey-pot" toilets.  Bathing was available only in the communal area, generally some distance from the living area. 

       Sleeping quarters were Nissen Huts, half-barrel corrugated steel shell over concrete floor with wooden ends, two windows and a door each end, the principal entrance with a light screen box-like affair attached.  These held 12 to 16 in very crowded conditions.  Other housing were prefabricated concrete structures (Seco Huts), generally quarters for the more permanent personnel.  The other buildings of the base were also of the Nissen or Seco type, large Nissens for the Mess Halls, large Secos for Briefings and Headquarter type functions. 

       The living and operational sites were scattered to the west of the airfield and were sited to take advantage of the terrain and growth thereon for camouflage purposes.  Blast (Bomb) Shelters, open to lop, brick-lined, in earth mound, were scattered randomly throughout the living and working areas.  A communal site, somewhat centrally located, had Officers and Flight EM messes and bath buildings.  Close by was the Red Cross area, PX, gymnasium and Station Theater. 
 
       The airfield proper was a Class A-type (Air Ministry Directorate-General of Works), standard for heavy bomber requirements.  The main runway, N-S (actually 030deg. & 210deg.) was 6,000' in length, the intersecting runways, NE-SW (100deg. & 280deg.) and SE-NW (140deg. & 320deg.) were 4,800' long.  All runways were 150' wide.  The taxiway (perimeter track) was 2.7 miles long and 50' wide.  Runways and perimeter track were of screeded concrete construction (it was rumored that London rubble was incorporated into the concrete).  Fifty loop (spectacle) hard standings were constructed around the perimeter track, some held more than one plane (Concrete also in most cases). 

       The field had Mark 11 type lighting with runway lights, not taxiways however.  Pole mounted lights a sufficient distance away from the field to provide a proper landing circuit circled the field with other pole mounted lights leading into the runways for either right or left hand landing patterns.  An instrument landing system localizer was later installed south of the north landing runway. 

       Major structures on the field were the two T-2 hangers, 120' wide by 240' long by 39' high, sufficiently wide for the 110' wing spread of the B-24.  One was at the technical site, the other on the east of the field.  Aviation gasoline was provided from two 100,000 gallon storage facilities, one on the southwest of the field, the other on the east near Salhouse Station. 

       The Group as went overseas was not self-sufficient in itself but required the services of the several ancillary organizations already assigned to the base.  These were: 

       The 1229th Quartermaster Company Service Group (AVN) was first on the base on 10 September 1943 with one officer and three enlisted, growing eventually to three officers and forty-seven men.  Its duties included all QM clothing and equipment for all enlisted men on the base, all expendable items (stationery, office supplies), all subsistence, all solid fuels, ground petroleum products, laundry and dry cleaning, local purchases, rail movement of personnel and QM salvage operations. 

       Detachment A 862nd Chemical Co. (AO) arrived on 11 November 1943.  Its two officers and 65 EM strength varied little during its service to the Group.  They maintained 23,000 sq. ft. of chemical bomb storage for incendiary bombs, colored grenades (pyrotechnics) and sky markers.  Half of the detachment worked with the squadron ordnance sections in loading conventional ordnance.  Over 1,570 tons of incendiaries were dropped by the Group from the 630 ton stock maintained.  It was also responsible for gas attack training and chemical gas use. 

       The 74th Station Complement Squadron  AVN (RS) arrived next, on 12 November 1943.  It operated the base, the telephone exchange, fire department, Post Office, electrical installations and other utilities, utilizing the other ancillary organizations and 467th BG personnel. 

       Assigned on 15 November 1943 was the 1451st Ordnance Supply and Maintenance Co. (AVN), one officer and 15 EM, growing to four officers and 76 EM.  This company maintained over three hundred vehicles from Jeeps to 4,000 gals. fuel trailers, the 2,600-ton bomb dump with bombs for various purposes weighing from 100 pounds to 2000 pounds, it stored and dispensed all ammunition and maintained all aircraft guns, over 650 .5 caliber machine guns, and all ground ordinance.  For vehicle maintenance they built their own 35' wide by 96' long Bentley building, nearly 3500 square feet of work area under roof. 

       The beginning of the 2105th Engineer (AVN) Fire Fighting Platoon was 5 EM from the 74th Station Complement Squadron and 4 RAF personnel on 8 December 1943.  Ten EM arrived from the 2031st E. (A) FFP in February 1944 and the 2105th was activated on 10 April 44 with one officer, 16 assigned EM and 6 on special duty from the 74th SCS.  Its duties varied from alert and rescue operations during flying periods to maintenance of fire extinguishers to extinguishing over sixty-four on-base fires to training ground personnel in basic fire fighting to practicing in dry runs all manner of fire fighting techniques. 

       The 470th Sub Depot was activated on 7 January 1944.  Five officers and 87 EM, machinists, mechanics, instrument technicians, clerks, etc., were assigned.  The Sub Depot built, repaired and supplied the needed parts and equipment necessary to keep the bombers and the men who flew in them in the air.  Their machine shop, welding shop, paint shop, instrument shop, propeller shop, supply sections, etc., were the best in the Division. 

       The 270th Finance Section was activated on 18 January 1944, one officer and 8 enlisted men.  They handled all assigned personnel payroll including all base pay information, deductions, allotments, etc. 

       And finally the 1286th Military Police Co. (AVN) assigned on 3 February 1944.  Their responsibility was all Base Security and are remembered at all mission briefings and at the five (authorized) entrances to the base. 

       The 259th Medical Dispensary Aviation (RS), activated in September 1944 had its beginning with arrival of personnel on the base on 22 October 1943.  Station Sick Quarters were ready on 25 December 1943, for use by the Medical Section, which until the Group arrived in March 1944, consisted of one Medical officer and eight EM, plus, later, a second medical officer, a dental officer and a dental technician.  With the arrival of the Group in March 1944 the medical section was reorganized along the lines of a Station Hospital, incorporating the Squadron medical personnel into the total medical facility.  The 259th eventually had a Surgeon, four medical officers, one dental officer, technicians for pharmacy, laboratory, x-ray, medical and dental, two ambulance drivers and several clerks (no nurses ever assigned). 

       All of the above auxiliary units on the field were inactivated (except Detachment A 862nd Chemical Co. (AO) on 15 April 1945 and reorganized and activated into the 375th Air Service Group, composed of a Headquarters and Base Service Squadron, the 812th Air Engineering Squadron and the 636th Air Material Squadron. 

       Mess facilities were manned by personnel from the squadrons on arrival of the Group.  These persons were assigned permanently to the facilities and provided generally four meals, breakfast, dinner, supper and late meal for the total organization on the base. 

       To insure that all was in place for the Group's arrival, Lt.  Col.  Herzberg and an advance party went to Rackheath in December 44.  When the Ground Echelon arrived on 11 March, not all was in order but all settled in to utilize and improve the structures and facilities on the station.  Upon assignment to the Second Bombardment, later Air, Division on 11 March 44, in conformance with Second Division directives, Lt.  Col.  Shower was named Station Commanding Officer, Lt.  Col.  Herzberg became Air Executive Officer with responsibility of Operations and Intelligence, and Lt.  Col.  Ion S. Walker became Ground Executive Officer with responsibility of Base Maintenance, Personnel and Supply. 

       The month, 11 March to 9 April, was spent in preparation for the Group's first combat mission.  Much had to be done, both physically and logistically, to accommodate the myriad functions required of the Group.  There were not enough buildings and rooms and additional ones were built, roads had to be widened, parking places built, much concrete poured.  ETO procedures of Wing and Division had to be studied, officers and section chiefs were sent to operating Groups to study their policies and procedures.  Practice missions were flown, the geography of England and operational procedures learned.  Twenty-nine days after arrival at Rackheath, the Group was sent on its first mission.  At that date the Group had 68 crews, and 51 aircraft, six of the Group aircraft having been transferred out immediately on arrival.  The first crew(s) roster available after arrival of the Group at Station 145 lists 68 crews and has in the 788th-18 crews; in the 789th-17 crews, which includes one replacement crew; in the 790th-16 crews; and in the 791st-17 crews.  This roster is undated, but from other information available has to be on or before 10 April 1944. 

       The first mission of the Group was 10 April against an aircraft assembly plant at an airfield at Bourges, France.  Thirty aircraft were dispatched, carrying six 1000-lb.  S.A.P (Semi-Armor Piercing) bombs each.  All reached the target, but four failed to drop their bombs due to mechanical problems.  Lt.  Col.  Shower led the two squadron Group effort and Maj.  Walter R. Smith, Group Operations Officer, the second squadron.  Takeoff had begun at 0600; return was in the early afternoon of a beautiful day in England, blue skies, bright sun, and great numbers of personnel gathered around the perimeter track to welcome the crews and aircraft home.  The Group flew over the base in perfect formation, thirty dispatched, thirty returned, a feeling of joy, pride, and relief for those who stayed behind.  Neither flak nor fighters had been encountered, the crews on the first mission had had a 'milk run.' The bombing results were judged very good, with only one aircraft's six bombs falling outside the target area. 

       Fourteen missions were flown in April, two more were recalled.  Number 2 on 11 April was the Group's first attack into Germany, with 36 aircraft in three squadrons dispatched and effective.  Results were good, moderate flak encountered, enemy fighter seen but did not attack, but one crew was lost in a crash landing in England, resulting in the first seven Killed in Action of the Group. 

       A late afternoon (1530) takeoff on Mission 10 on 22 April to a marshaling (rail) yard at Hamm, Germany of twenty-eight aircraft, a two squadron effort, resulted in very good results by the Shower led Group.  However, return to England was after dark and German aircraft followed the bombers back to England, shooting down two of the Group's aircraft with deaths of fifteen crewmen.  A bomb dropped by the intruders on a hardstand near the south end of the field resulted in one ground airman KIA and one Wounded in Action. 

       Mission 16, the Group's first to Berlin, on 29 April, had a long-lasting effect on the Group.  Twenty eight aircraft were dispatched and twenty-six attacked the general target area through eight/to ten/tenths clouds.  Three aircraft were lost with thirty-one airmen, thirteen Killed in Action, seventeen Prisoners of War and one Evadee.  Among the POWs was Major Robert L. Salzarulo, Commanding Officer of the 788th BS (H), and his loss was the principal reason that the 788th was transferred to the 801st Bombardment Group (Provisional) on 10 May 44.  The 801st was engaged in support of partisans in France and the Benelux Countries in dropping supplies, later agents, to aid their efforts in opposition to the occupying German forces.  The 788th at transfer had fifteen crews of which eleven went to the 801st, one to the 789th BS, two to the 790th BS and one to the 791st BS.  The Group was left with 59 crews on 10 May 44. 

       The first Group mission was flown on 10 April 1944 and it flew 10 missions in the month of April with loss of seven crews; from the 788th-2, from the 789th-1, from the 790th-3, and from the 791st-1. 

       Replacements began arriving in April.  The first replacement to gain mission credit is first noted as Aircraft Commander on 29 April 1944.  Fifteen replacement crews flew their first missions in May, seventeen in June and twenty-one in July.  By the end of July, the Group had flown 86 missions and original non-lead crews were finishing their tours of thirty missions.  Eleven crews had been lost due to combat operations. 

       Prior to the transfer out of the 788th, included on the eleven mission records in hand, 286 aircraft were sent on combat missions, an average of 26 per mission.  After the departure of the 788th, the Group dispatched 251 aircraft in May on 13 missions, an average of 19 aircraft per mission. 

       The mission average went up to 21 aircraft per mission for the 29 missions flown in June.  Here some missions were second missions of the day, with as few as 10 or 12 aircraft dispatched.  On 14 June 1944, Mission 51, 39 aircraft were dispatched. 

       For Missions 68 through 86 in July, 487 aircraft were dispatched, an average of 25+ for the month's 19 missions.  In the month 38 aircraft were dispatched on Mission 83 on 24 July 44.  On one other mission 37 aircraft were dispatched and on two others 36 aircraft were dispatched on each.  Several 10-12 plane missions were flown in July also. 

       In August 44 a realignment of Groups and Squadrons within the Eight Air Force occurred to reduce it to its authorized strength.  As a consequence of this, the 492nd BG(H) was withdrawn from combat operations after 7 August to replace, by name, the 801st BG(P).  Combat crews, ground personnel requirements and aircraft were realigned in the 492nd until 10 August 44 resulting in 29 crews, five without combat experience, 12 aircraft and ground support personnel being assigned to a squadron which became the 788th BS(H), second organization, assigned to the 467th BG(H) effective 12 August 44.  Of the twenty-nine crews, twenty began combat operations with the 467th BG(H) on 14 August 44, the other nine crews were transferred into other squadrons of the Group.  

       In August, Missions 87 through 98, prior to the return of the 788th, the Group flew 12 missions, dispatching 295 aircraft, 24+ aircraft per mission.  This average rose to 28 for the nine missions flown in the remainder of August with the return of the 788th. 
 
       Six missions were flown in September prior to the Group being "stood down" to ferry supplies, principally gasoline, to France.  In these six missions 156 aircraft were dispatched, an average of 26 per mission, down by two from the prior period. 

       Upon resuming combat missions on 3 October 44, Mission 113 through Mission 118, 12 October 44, the Group flew 5 missions, 154 aircraft dispatched, nearly 31 aircraft per mission. 

       On 13 October 1944, a change in Squadron responsibilities occurred.  Prior to that date, each Squadron trained and provided its own Lead Crews.  From that date forward, Group Lead Crew responsibility was placed with the 791st Bombardment Squadron (Heavy).  Many crew assignments changed at this time as Squadron Lead Crews were transferred to the 791st and wing crews of the 791st were transferred to the other three squadrons.  On 14 October 44, when the Group dispatched 35 aircraft on Mission 119, there were 22 crews in the 788th, 22 in the 789th, 23 in the 790th and 23 in the 791st, a total of 90 crews in the Group. 

       The average number of aircraft dispatched per mission, beginning with Mission 120 through Mission 221 on 25 April 1945 was 28, of which an average of 5 were Lead Crew.  On Mission 146, 24 December 44, the Group dispatched 62 aircraft, including PETE THE POM INSPECTOR 11 assembly ship.  On this mission the 788th furnished 18 crews, the 789th-17 crews, the 790th-17 crews, and the 791st-10 crews.  One 790th aircraft returned early.  Of the 61 aircraft attacking the targets (Duan, Geroistein and Ober), each flew an average of 6:15 hours and consumed an average of 1,790 gallons of aircraft gasoline each, a total of 107,270 gallons of gasoline for the mission. 

       The last four missions of the Group, Nos. 218 through 221 (1), have not been located in the National Archives.  As a consequence, the crews flying their first combat mission after 18 April 45 are not known.  This is an unfortunate circumstance, but without Statistical Records no other determination could be made. 

       The least time credit mission record is 3:00 hours per aircraft on Mission 29, 20 May 44, to Satterast (near Rheims) France in which 13 Group aircraft participated.  As the enemy was driven from France and the Benelux Countries, mission times increased somewhat in length.  Through Missions 42, 43 and 44 on D-Day, 6 June 44, the missions averaged 5:25 hours.  From Mission 45 to Mission 100, the average was slightly greater at 5:41 hours.  For Missions 101 through 150, the average flight time was 6:10 hours.  From Mission 151 through Mission 217, the average flight time had further increased to an average of nearly 7:30 hours.  The longest known mission (hours) was to Rouen, France on 14 April 1945, Mission 215, 9:05 hours (average) flight time for the 25 aircraft of the mission. 

       The earlier assigned crews sometimes flew three, four, five missions in a row.  Later it was the normal practice in the 467th for a crew to fly two combat missions and one practice mission in a four-day time span.  The fourth day was, except for Sunday, for ground schools, for pilots Link Trainers, Celestial Navigation trainers with the Navigator, for Gunners, skeet and/or other gunnery trainers.  Some Administrative flights were scheduled on the non-combat flight days, slow time of aircraft engines, pick up of replacement aircraft, etc.  Typically, the initial crews assigned the Group flew 30 missions, later this was increased to 35 missions.  In fact, there was no maximum number of missions required to be flown, all air crews technically were relieved due to combat fatigue and not number of missions.  It was the practice to relieve Pilots, Co-pilots, Navigators, Bombardiers, Radio Operators and Aerial Engineers after the number of missions above.  Ball, nose, tail and waist Gunners were generally relieved when their crew pilot finished his missions, even though they may not have had the number of missions noted above. 

       The names of 300 Aircraft Commanders have been found in mission records.  No study was undertaken to determine the number of missions flown by the individual Aircraft Commanders, but it was noted in the review that a number of them were relieved for causes not related to mission participation.  Replacement Aircraft Commanders for those so relieved were prior crew co-pilots in most instances, but a number of Aircraft Commanders are recorded who could not be related to other crews and the assumption has to be made that they were assigned into the Group without crew affiliation. In a few instances, Squadron and Group non-crew pilots served as Aircraft Commanders though generally they are found as Group and Squadron Command Pilots. 
 

Note (l)-The Group is credited with 212 missions.  The difference in numbers occurred when mission recalls without penetrating enemy territory were counted in the Group but not in Wing.