467th Bombardment Group - RAF Rackheath

The 467th Bombardment Group (H) was a B?24 Liberator heavy bomber unit assigned to the 8th Air Force's 2nd Air Division. It flew from RAF Rackheath, England, against German industrial, military, and transportation targets from April 1944 to April 1945. The group became known as the "Rackheath Aggies" and was noted for its bombing accuracy.

The group arrived in England in February - March 1944 and flew its first combat mission on 10 April 1944 with an attack on an airfield at Bourges. The 467th Bomb Group served chiefly as a strategic bombardment organization, attacking the harbor at Kiel, chemical plants at Bonn, textile factories at Stuttgart, power plants at Hamm, steel works at Osnabruck, the aircraft industry at Brunswick, and other objectives.

On the night of 22 April 1944, when the Group's aircraft were returning from Hamm, Germany, they were followed in by German aircraft. As the formation came over the field, shots were heard above the drone of the motors, and tracers streaked across the sky. Suddenly the entire sky lit up with tracers and ack-ack bursts. Airplanes were going in all directions. As the B-24s tried to land at Rackheath, a German Ju-88 came over and dropped bombs near the runway. Then mistaken identity caused a nearby field battery to shoot down a B-24. The final count showed two ships down over England, with a loss of fifteen men, and one ground personnel killed on the base, with a number of others injured.

In addition to strategic operations, the group engaged in support and interdictory missions such as bombing shore installations and bridges near Cherbourg on D-Day, 6 June 1944. Enemy troops and supply concentrations near Montreuil were struck on 25 July 1944 to assist the Allied drive across France. The group transported gasoline to France in September 1944 for supply to mechanized forces and attacked German communications and fortifications during the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944 - January 1945. Enemy transportation was hit to assist the Allied assault across the Rhine in March 1945.

The Group's 200th mission came on 22 March 1945 and was celebrated with a large "stand-down" party. The day after the 200th mission party, the Group was still celebrating with a big 'beer bust" and watching P47 and P-51 exhibition teams in an air show of stunt flying. A less experienced pilot in a P-51 wandered by and attempted a slow roll at 100 feet, lost control and crashed in the Red Cross Gym area. The party was soon over as no one felt like celebrating further.

On 15 April 1945, 24 Liberators from the group scored a 100% bombing strike on a German coastal battery at Pointe de Grave, France, setting an 8th Air Force record for bombing accuracy. The B?24J "Witchcraft" of the 790th Bomb Squadron flew 130 missions without a single turnback due to mechanical or other non?combat reasons and without crew injuries, setting a record for B?24s in the 8th Air Force. The group flew their last combat mission on 25 April 1945 attacking railway and station facilities in and around Traunstein, Germany.

By the end of the war the group had flown a total of 212 combat missions and destroyed approximately 13 enemy aircraft. The group lost only 48 aircraft in combat and non-combat operations.

Campaigns
The 467th Bombardment Group participated in the following campaigns: American Theater, Air Offensive - Europe, Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe.

Oversea Burials   467th Bomb Group Oversea Burials

Group Web Site   http://www.467bg.com