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491st
| The Scrapbook Archives - Metfield and North Pickenham, Norfolk
491st Bomb Group
The focus of this scrapbook is the 491st Bombardment Group stationed at Metfield and later North Pickenham, Norfolk
B24 Liberator from the 491st BG, 853BS, on April 25, 1945. This was the last mission flown by the 491st; the target was a railroad factor at Bad Reichenhall, Germany. From the collection of Vincent S. Cahill, Jr. (MC 371/610 721x7), Norfolk Record Office.
The 491st was activated on October 1, 1943 at Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona. It has a more unusual history than some of the other bomb groups, in that many of its ground personnel came from four 2nd Air Division bomb groups already in England. The air crews trained in the United States at Biggs Field, Texas and at Pueblo, Colorado before moving overseas on April 21, 1944. Like several of the other 2nd Air Division bomb groups, the 491st air crews flew their B24 Liberators to England via the southern ferry route, which included stops in Florida, Brazil, and Morocco.
The 491st Bomb Group was stationed at Metfield from April 25 through August 15, 1944 before moving to the North Pickenham airfield, where they completed their time in England. They flew their first mission on June 2, 1944 against an airfield near Bretigney, France and their last mission on April 25, 1945. During this time, they flew 187 missions for 5,005 sorties, losing 47 aircraft in action. The 491st Bomb Group was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation for its mission against Misburg on November 26, 1944.
Redeployment to the United States began in June, 1945. The B24 Liberators were flown home June 17-19. The ground crews left England for New York City via the Queen Mary on July 6, 1945. The 491st was then based at McChord Field, Washington, but with the end of the war the group was inactivated on September 8, 1945.
There are several good histories of the 491st Bomb Group available for use in the 2nd Air Division Memorial Library, in addition to the standard histories of the 2nd Air Division and the 8th Air Force. Among those histories are:
491st Bombardment Group (H), Inc. Ringmasters: History of the 491st Bombardment Group (H).
Bodle, Peter: The 492nd and 491st Bomb Groups in Norfolk
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Created 12 July 2007
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