458th Bombardment Group - RAF Horsham St Faith

The 458th Bombardment Group (H) was a B-24 Liberator heavy bomber group of the 8th Air Force's 2nd Air Division. The unit conducted strategic bombing operations from England between February 1944 and April 1945 as part of the Allied air campaign against Germany.

The 458th Bombardment Group was activated on 28 July 1943, at Gowen Field, Idaho. It was comprised of four squadrons - the 752nd, 753rd, 754th, and 755th. In September the group moved to Wendover Field, Utah where most of the combat crews were assigned for training. In late October 1943, the group moved to Tonopah, Nevada for Combat Crew training which began on 1 December 1943. It was at this time that Lt Col James H. Isbell was appointed as group commanding officer, a post at which he would remain until March 1945.

In early January 1944, having been assigned to the 8th USAAF, the group moved overseas to the European Theater of Operations (ETO). The first aircrews started arriving at the end of the month at their new base, Horsham St Faith in Norwich, a permanent RAF airfield built in 1939. It was hereafter known as AAF 123.

The 458th's first combat assignment came on 24 February 1944, during "Big Week", flying a diversionary mission along the Dutch coast to draw enemy fighters away from Germany while experienced units struck deep into the enemy's homeland. On March 6th the 458th flew on the first mission the 8th Air Force completed to Berlin, losing five crews - the highest total loss of any single mission for the remainder of its combat tour.

In September, the 96th Combat Bombardment Wing (458BG, 466BG, and 467BG) was pulled off combat operations and assigned to fly gasoline to the Continent. The 458th flew a total of 456 sorties, known as "Truckin' Missions" throughout September, delivering 767,000 gallons of gas. They lost seven aircraft and 13 men either killed or missing in action in the process. Combat operations began again at the beginning of October and continued through the end of the war.

On 15 April 1945, the 458th participated in an unusual sortie to Royan, France. More than 120,000 enemy troops were still occupying an area along the Gironde Estuary. Using containers of "jellied gasoline", this was the first successful use of Napalm in the ETO. The group's last mission occurred on April 25th with a strike on a railroad target at Bad Reichenhall, Germany and it proved to be one of the few "milk runs" conducted by this Group.

During their operational period between 24 February 1944 - 25 April 1945, the 458th Bomb Group flew 240 combat missions in four campaigns: Air Offensive Europe - 57 missions, Normandy - 45 missions, Northern France - 33 missions, and Germany - 105 missions. The group lost 47 aircraft shot down with an additional 10 Liberators lost to combat-related incidents. Combat casualties of personnel resulted in 256 aircrew killed in action; 193 POWs; and 34 evading capture. An additional 60 aircrew were interned in either Switzerland or Sweden. A total of 14 aircraft were lost in non-combat related accidents, killing 53 aircrew and/or groundmen. The group's gunners were credited with the destruction of 28 enemy aircraft.

The 458th Bomb Group was cited for outstanding performance by the 2nd Air Division on three occasions: completing 100 missions, the destruction of an important bridge at Blois St Denis, and the completion of 200 missions.

Campaigns
The 458th Bombardment Group participated in the following campaigns: Air Offensive - Europe, Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe.

Oversea Burials   458th Bomb Group Oversea Burials

Group Web Site   https://458bg.com