379th Bombardment Group Anthology (3 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. First Edition. A textual, statistical and photographic history of the 379th Bombardment Group (H). 400 glossy pages. Clean, bright, tight and unmarked with very light wear. A high-quality example of this highly informative work. ; 4to.

Hardcover. Condition: Very good. Limited Edition [stated]. The format is approximately 8.75 inches by 11.25 inches. The Two volume set. Volume One--400 pages. Volume Two--400 pages. Illustrations. Tabular Data. Bibliography. Endpapers have color illustrations. Decorative covers. No dust jacket present. Section 10, The B-17 Aircraft Assigned to the 379th Bombardment Group (H) WWII Nov. 1942 -April 1945 was a product of personal research by Lt. Col. Joseph A. Brown, USAF (RET.). Section 11, 379th Bombardment Group Monthly Histories Activation - Deactivation 26 November 1942 - 25 July 1945 was compiled by Michael P. Hart and Mary L. Hart. The Foreword is by Father Walter J. Sullivan, former 379th chaplain. The anthology of the 379th Bombardment Group (H) is a comprehensive collection of 800 pages of words, numbers, and historic photographs that provide significance to the "Best Bomb Group" in The Mighty Eighth Air Force. The Group's combat performance was so outstanding that two volumes were required to unveil and adequately proclaim its impressive history. The 379th Bombardment Group (H) Anthology,includes more photos, actual action reports, citations, dozens of articles, detailed report of the 345 B-17's assigned to the 379th, casualty reports concerning the 149 flying fortresses lost in combat, 379th organization, propaganda leaflets, monthly history reports, and reunions. During World War II, the 379th Bombardment Group was a VIII Bomber Command B-17 Flying Fortress unit in England. Assigned to RAF Kimbolton in early 1943, the group flew more sorties than any other bomb group in the Eighth Air Force, and dropped a greater bomb tonnage than any other group. The combat record of the 379th was the most successful of all the Eighth Air Force heavy bomber groups, receiving two Distinguished Unit Citations. The group was activated on 26 November 1942 at Gowen Field, Idaho. It assembled at Wendover Field, Utah on 2 December 1942. They trained there until 2 March 1943. Then moved to Sioux City AAB Iowa on 3 February 1943 until their departure on 9 April 1943. The ground echelon moved for final processing at Camp Douglas, Wis, and then to Camp Shanks, New York. They sailed on the SS Aquitania on 10 May 1943, and arrived at Clyde on 18 May 1943. The aircraft left Sioux City on 9 April 1943 for Bangor, Maine, via Kearney, Nebraska, and Selfridge, Michigan. They commenced overseas movement on 15 April 1943 by the North Atlantic ferry route from Presque Isle, Maine via Greenland, Iceland to Prestwick, Scotland. Arrived in England in May 1943, assigned to VIII Bomber Command, 41st Combat Bombardment Wing. Stationed at RAF Kimbolton, assigned Triangle-K as its tail identification code. The 379th BG began operations with Eighth AF on 19 May 1943, and received a Distinguished Unit Citation for operations over Europe from May 1943 through July 1944. The group engaged primarily in bombardment of strategic targets such as industries, oil refineries, storage plants, submarine pens, airfields and communications centres in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway and Poland. Specific targets included a chemical plant in Ludwigshafen, an aircraft assembly plant in Brunswick, ball-bearing plants at Schweinfurt and Leipzig, synthetic oil refineries at Merseburg and Gelsenkirchen, marshaling yards at Hamm and Reims and airfields in Mesnil au Val and Berlin. The Group received another DUC for flying without fighter protection into central Germany to attack vital aircraft factories on 11 January 1944. On several occasions the Group attacked interdictory targets and operated in support of ground forces. It bombed V-weapon sites, airfields, radar stations and other installations before the Normandy invasion in June 1944, bombed defended positions just ahead of the Allied landings on 6 June and struck airfields, rail choke points, and gun emplacements during the campaign that followed. During the Battle of France, the Group bombed enemy positions to assist ground troops at St Lo during the breakthrough, 2425 July 1944, attacked German communications and fortifications during the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944 January 1945, and bombed bridges and viaducts in France and Germany to aid the Allied assault across the Rhine, FebruaryMarch 1945. The combat record of the 379th was the most successful of all the Eighth Air Force heavy bomber groups. It held records as far as bomb tonnage dropped 26,459 tons more than any other unit including those operational before the 379th arrived in the UK. It also exceeded all other UK Bomb Groups in the total number of missions flown, carrying out 330 between May 1943 and 15 May 1945. One B-17G, "Ol Gappy", itself completed 157 missions, probably more than any other Eighth Air Force bomber. Scheduled to transport US troops from Europe to Casablanca. The unit moved to Casablanca in early June with the last aircraft flown back to the States and the Group inactivated at Casablanca on 25 July 1945.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Limited Edition, TWO VOLUME Set, Light Wear to Vol. 1 Boards, Inside Like New.