World War Photos

B-17G-5-VE Flying Fortres of the 551st BS 385th Bomb Group, 1944 42-39951

385th Bomb Group (H) – “Van’s Valiants”

Overview:

• Assigned to Eighth Air Force (8th AF): June 1943
• Primary Aircraft: B-17F and B-17G Flying Fortresses.
• Component Squadrons: 548th, 549th, 550th, and 551st Bombardment Squadrons (H).

Wing & Command Assignments:

• VIII Bomber Command (BC), 4th Bombardment Wing (BW), 401st Provisional Combat Bombardment Wing (PCBW): June 1943
• VIII BC, 3rd Bombardment Division (BD), 4th Combat Bombardment Wing (CBW): September 13, 1943
• 3rd BD, 4th CBW: January 8, 1944
• 3rd Air Division (AD), 4th CBW: January 1, 1945
• 3rd AD, 93rd CBW: February 17, 1945

Note: The 4th CBW was incorporated with the 92nd CBW in the 4th BW (Provisional) from around November 18, 1944, to February 16, 1945.

Stations:

• Great Ashfield: June 26, 1943 – August 4, 1945 (Ground echelon arrived on July 2 and July 8/9, 1943)

Group Commanding Officers:

1. Col. Elliott Vandevanter: February 3, 1943 – August 23, 1944
2. Col. George Y. Jumper: August 24, 1944 – May 28, 1945
3. Col. William H. Hanson: June 2, 1945 – July 1945
   • Lt. Col. H.T. Witherspoon (acting CO): May/June 1945

Combat Record:

• First Mission: July 17, 1943
• Last Mission: April 20, 1945
• Total Missions: 296*
• Total Credit Sorties: 8,264
• Total Bomb Tonnage Dropped: 18,494 tons (including 184.9 tons of supplies, etc.)
• Aircraft MIA (Missing in Action): 129
• Other Operational Losses: 40
• Enemy Aircraft Claims: 287 destroyed, 80 probable, 95 damaged

Major Awards:

• Two Distinguished Unit Citations (DUC):
  • August 17, 1943: Regensburg mission (all 4th Bombardment Wing groups)
  • May 12, 1944: Zwickau mission

Claims to Fame:

• Led the famous attack on the Marienburg factory on October 9, 1943.
• Last group to be fired upon during the war in May 1945 in Holland.

Early History:

• Activated: December 1, 1942, at Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona.
• Formation: Not formed until February 1943 at Geiger Field, Washington. Trained at this base for two months and then moved to Great Falls Army Airfield, Montana, on April 11, 1943. Completed training at the end of May 1943, with the air echelon moving to Kearney Field, Nebraska, prior to overseas deployment via the northern ferry route. Two aircraft were lost en route.
  • Ground Echelon: Left Great Falls on June 8, 1943. The 548th Bomb Squadron sailed on the Queen Mary on June 23, 1943, and the other squadrons on the Queen Elizabeth on July 1, 1943.

Subsequent History:

• Redeployment to the USA: June and August 1945. The air echelon departed between June 19, 1945, and June 29, 1945. The ground echelon left on August 4/5, 1945, and sailed on the Queen Elizabeth from Greenock on August 5, 1945, arriving in New York on August 11, 1945. Personnel received 30 days of rest and recuperation. The group was re-established at Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota, and inactivated on August 28, 1945.
  • Note: The group flew six food missions in May 1945, delivering 458.2 tons, with one mission receiving combat credit as the aircraft were fired upon.

Aircraft Markings and Identification:

• B-17F/G Fortresses (June 1943 – July 1945):
  • The original B-17Fs arrived with Dark Olive Drab and Neutral Gray factory finishes.
  • Group Marking: Within a week of arrival at Great Ashfield, the group marking was notified for painting on the fin and right wing upper surface. An Identification Yellow letter “G,” 40 inches high, was painted on a “dulled white” (actually light grey) square, typically 50 inches by 48 inches, positioned above the tail number. Some 549th Bomb Squadron aircraft had a square measuring 60 inches on the horizontal sides, overlapping the rudder. On the wing, this marking was 72 inches with the span and 57 inches with the chord, also in light grey with a 45-inch yellow letter.
  • Call Letters: The yellow individual aircraft call letter was painted below the tail number, varying from 24 inches to 48 inches high on some aircraft. The large letters appeared only on the group’s early B-17Fs, with replacements generally having 24-inch high tail call letters. On some aircraft, the call letter was also painted on the rear fuselage in bluish-grey, 36 inches high.
  • Marking Evolution: Early in July, the group device instruction was amended, changing the square to white and the letter to Insignia Blue. Despite the change, many 385th Bomb Group B-17s retained the original yellow “G” marking throughout the summer of 1943. From early 1944, the group marking dimensions were standardized at 48 inches square. For natural metal-finish aircraft, the group marking became a white letter on a black square, with some aircraft having the “G” formed by masking bare metal. Tail call letters were black on bare metal.
  • Squadron Colors and Additional Markings:
    • By late October 1943, propeller hubs were painted in squadron colors:
      • 548th Bomb Squadron: Blue
      • 549th Bomb Squadron: Yellow
      • 550th Bomb Squadron: Red
      • 551st Bomb Squadron: Bright Green
    • In December 1944, a yellow chevron marking was added to the upper surface of the right wing, each arm 48 inches wide with the apex near the center of the outer wing section leading edge. At least one aircraft received an all-yellow empennage as part of a 4th Bomb Wing experiment in January 1945.
    • Upon transfer to the 93rd Combat Bomb Wing, the Square “G” marking was deleted from both tail and wing, replaced by 93rd CBW red wing and tail markings. A single 48-inch wide red stripe was painted around each wing outboard of engines Nos. 1 and 4. A 36-inch wide red band was added around the horizontal tailplane midway between the two central elevator hinges. The vertical tail markings consisted of 28-inch squares forming a checkerboard pattern, with three red squares at the base and apex, totaling nine full and five part red squares on each fin surface. On camouflaged aircraft, the call letter was repositioned in white in the top full square, with the tail number in white or yellow over the checkerboard. On natural metal aircraft, the call letter was black in the top full bare metal square, with the tail number in black in its original position.
  • The first 385th Bomb Group B-17s with this marking appeared during the third week of February 1945, with most aircraft repainted by April. In mid-May 1945, squadron codes were used as “anti-buzz” identification markings under the left wing. These letters were approximately 72 inches by 60 inches, black on bare metal, and yellow on Neutral Gray. The 548th Bomb Squadron used “GX,” the 549th “XA,” the 550th “SG,” and the 551st “HR.”