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458th
| The Scrapbook Archives - Horsham St. Faith, Norfolk
458th Bomb Group
The focus of this scrapbbook is the 458th Bombardment Group, stationed at Horsham St Faith, Norfolk
The 458th Bomb Group of Horsham St. Faith, Norfolk, was activated on July 1, 1943 at Wendover Field, Utah. The group was organized at Gowen Field in Idaho, before moving to Kearns Field, Utah in early September. The final training was held in Nevada at Tonopah Airfield from late October until December, 1943. The ground crew left the United States on January 18, 1944, travelling on the USS Florence Nightingale. The air crews flew their planes via the southern ferry route, with the last aircraft arriving on February 18, 1944 at their new base at Horsham St. Faith. This airfield had been used by the Royal Air Force, and had permanent brick buildings, causing some envy among those assigned to other airfields in Norfolk!
The first mission was flown six days later, a diversionary mission along the coast of the Netherlands, allowing other bomber units to fly deep into Germany. The first bombing mission flown by the 458th was March 2, 1944 against Frankfurt, Germany. Overall, the 458th flew 240 missions, with its final mission on April 25, 1945. During that time, the 458th lost 47 aircraft in combat, from 5,759 sorties flown.
The 458th was redeployed to the United States in the summer of 1945, with aircraft leaving on June 14 and the ground crews following via the Queen Mary on July 6, 1945. With the end of the war, the 458th was inactivated on October 17, 1945.
Crew photograph taken at an airfield near Casper, Wyoming in September 1944, before flying to Horsham St. Faiths. Those pictured include Robert Henn, Chesleigh Wilburn, Richard E. Bateman, Bernard Lehmann, Joseph Straus, Van Taylor, James Winslow, Leroy Fischer, and Oscar Gaff. From the collection of Richard Batemen (MC 376/156 800x8), Norfolk Record Office.
B24 Liberator 42-40424. From the collection of Dario Dejulio (MC 371/400 720x7), Norfolk Record Office.
There are several good histories of the 458th 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:
Reynolds, George A: The 458th Bombardment Group (Heavy).
Reynolds, George A: The 458th Bombardment Group (Heavy) IV.
Reynolds, George A: Folded Wings of the 458th Bombardment Group.
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Revised 13 July 2007
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