| Brief History of the 450th Bomb Squadron (M) |
| Donor | Original Source | PIMA ID | Donor ID | Category |
| Richard P. Ellinger | Eugene Allen | na | RPE-OCR-MS-301 | OCR-G-MS |
| Introduction:
This has been OCR scanned from a 4 page, typed document given by Eugene Allen |
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Temporary MHS number MS-301 2155 words
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 450TH BOMB SQUADRON The 450th. Bomb Squadron of the 322nd. Bomb Group was activated out of the 21st. Bomb Group at MacDill Field, Tampa, Florida on July 19, 1942. Many of the original members of this Squadron had been with the 21st Bomb Group while stationed at Key Field, Meridian, Miss. After the move to Tampa, we were under the impression that we were to be "Permanent Party" there. This proved to be false because with each Group activated, some went out. I believe the first one was the 320th. Bomb Group, don't really know how many were assigned to this Group, but I do know that the 322nd Group was the next one, and most of us were assigned to this one. Lt. Othel D. Turner was to be our first Squadron Commander, Lt Bernard Helgeland adjutant, Lt. Jack Crane Operations Officer and Lt. Glenn W. Pennington Flight Surgeon. Operational training was to began on August 10th, and the results were not too good from the very start. Within 10 days the Squadron had its first casualty when Lt. Franklin D. Pierce and his crew were killed when their Plane crashed near the field. So many crashes brought on the "One a day in Tampa bay" saying and the Truman Committee declared the B-26 unfit. On Sept. 22nd we had our first move, to Drane Field, Lakeland, Florida, for overseas training. More crashes in Tampa Bay and the B-26 became known as the "Flying Prostitute", no visual means of support. On Nov. 14, 1942 we boarded a troop train for Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. The ride was long and rough, the chow terrible, but none of it could compare to the shots, film and lectures that we were to get at Camp Kilmer. This however did not last too long, because we were loaded aboard the Queen Elizabeth, We thought for Africa on November 23, 1942. Six days later, we docked at Grenoch, Scotland - 1930 hours on November 29, 1942. I will never forget the sight that greeted us that first morning. Barrage balloons, ships of every make and tugs filled the harbor almost to capacity, our first glimpse of war time England. We were served meat pies by the Red Cross before boarding another troop train for Rougham Airdrome, Sta. #468, in Bury St. Edmunds, England. Memories of the black-outs, English facilities and currency were mixed with memories of wet or no packages from home, inactivity because of no flight crews, and many long bicycle rides for the next almost six months. |
| leg was St. Eval and on March 8, 1943 eight B-26s under the command of Capt. Turner, landed at Rougham Airdrome. The following day six more made it in and the Squadron was complete for the first time since November of 1942. Low level training missions were the order of the day. The crews seemed to like it, but the poor English farmer didn't know what to expect next. There were daily reports of power lines broken, horses frightened enough to run off with sugar beet carts and invasion cables broken. The first low level combat mission was flown on May 14, 1943, the target a power station and submarine pens at Ijumiden, Holland. Planes met heavy resistance, most were hit, all made it back to the base, but the Squadron suffered its first combat casualty. Lt. Howell's plane was badly damaged, his crew bailed out close to the base, but the plane crashed before he could get out. Since the bombing results were very questionable on the first mission, the Group was sent back over the same target on May 17, 1943. This time it was a total disaster, of the eleven planes on the mission, one malfunctioned and returned home shortly after the take off. The other ten never returned. '"e had lost our Group Commander, Group Executive Officer, most of our Operational leaders and 60 of our very good friends and hut mates. We will never forget that day on the ramp waiting for the planes to return, even after all time had run out for them, we still could not believe it - Nothing. It was some 10 days before two crew members from one of the planes were picked up on the North Sea from a rubber life raft. It seems that German Gunners were waiting in boats, church towers and gun placements for them, eight of the planes went down before they even reached the target the other two were picked up by German fighters and ended up in the North Sea - the two survivors were from one of these planes. Col. Glen Nye was assigned as the new Group Commander, and crews began training for medium altitude missions, from 10,000 to 13,000 feet. The Group was transferred to Andrews Field, Great Saling near Braintree, Essex, England on June 14, 1943. It was at this time that the Group was taken out of the Eighth Air Force and assigned to the Ninth Air Force. The Squadron did not resume combat missions again until July 31, 1943, but from that day on, it was every time the weather would permit. A typical day was October 24, 1943, the target was Montclidier Airdrome North of Paris. The Group sent 36 Marauders, 1" of these were 45Oth Squadron. For the first time the planes had a P-38 escort. The strongest enemy opposition yet was encountered, of the 36 Marauders in the formation, 28 were attacked by approximately 40 enemy fighters at least 54 times. In the ensuing battle three enemy aircraft were destroyed, three probably destroyed and six damaged. All of our planes returned safely. By now battle damage had been very heavy, especially since we had been going after buzz-bomb sites almost every day. It was hard to get excited about a target, but on March 26, 19"4 you would have thought the target was Hitler himself. By briefing time the whole area was buzzing with excitement - "We're going back to Ijumiden". What a score we |
| had to settle with this target, it had been almost a year since that first and second ill fated missions, most all thought it had been way too long. To add to the excitement, the target was not only going to be the power station, but both the old and new E-boat pens as well. The 322nd Group was to lead the formation that day, and unlike the first two missions, when there were only one Group with 12 planes, there were now eight Groups and there were to be 350 marauders on this mission. The weather was not the usual English weather that day, crystal clear and crisp, a perfect day for this mission. All airplanes were hugging tightly in formation as they approached the target, heavy flak burst all around the lead plane, it swerved, but got back on target pattern in time. All bombs seemed to hit dead center, the target appeared to be demolished. Capt. Sebille saved his last one for the power station. Reconnaissance photos showed all targets - power station, Nazi mess hall, E-boat pens, and living quarters with direct hits. What a difference a year had made. From Andrews Field, we operated three missions on D-Day, June 6, 1944, with invasion striped planes. Crews were served sandwiches on the run-ways while planes were being checked, re-fueled and loaded with bombs. At the end of that day, no need to say that all were tired and happy. As the front lines moved up through France, the flying time became too much for our medium bombers, so on Sept. 21, 1944, we were transferred to Beauvais Tille, France, an Airdrome that our crews had bombed six times. Their accuracy could be vouched for because we had to suspend all operations due to holes in the runways, blown tires, accidents, etc. Col. Sam called out all personnel, ground and air, until all the holes were filled and we were able to operate again. " French winter in tents was rough, but it seemed by that time we could handle most anything. In mid December of 1944 the Germans mounted an offensive which became known as the Battle of the Bulge. Snow, Ice and bad weather kept us grounded until December 23rd. when the weather cleared and we were able to take to the skies to help stop the offensive. By mid March of 1945, the end was in sight - in a one week period, marauders of the 9th Air Force, concentrating on an area North of the Ruhr, cut 400 rails and highways and destroyed 3,400 buildings. The mediums were running out of bridges, of 250 major bridges attacked up to April 1, 1945 no less than 105 of them were destroyed and 145 were made useless without reconstruction. On April 2, 1945 we again moved to a forward position, this time to LeCulot, Belgium where we moved into a luxurious children's home at Dongelburg, Belgium. Children still occupied the other buildings and we enjoyed them. The old stone quarry offered something new for us, a good place to go swimming. We operated from LeCulot until VE day. Yes we celebrated VE day, many of us, in Brussels, and the day after - and the day after that - and the day after that - someone finally got smart and decided to have a roll call, don't know how many men he found there, but they found three truck loads of girls that had to be taken back to the city. |
| Then came the great point system. All with over 110 points were going home, and we didn't have anyone with less than 125 points. We were ready for the boat most any time, but guess what - On July 6, 1945 we moved to Fritzlair, Germany. Wasn't all bad though, were moved into the only two hotels in the little resort village of Frankinburg, Germany. Personnel were assigned to the task of getting rid of Hitler's war machine manufacturing equipment. The jobs were not hard and good food, real plates, German POW doing work for us, and hunting privileges made it somewhat easier. We still wanted to go home, and thought we deserved it, but that did not happen for many of us until October and November of 1945. After the tragic beginning at MacDill Field with the reputation of "One a Day in Tampa Bay", the 322nd. Bomb Group had a distinguished record with over 425 combat missions from May 1943 to May, 1945 against enemy air fields, buzz bomb sites, marshaling yards, bridges, power plants, ammunition dumps, communication and transportation centers. Our battle honors include the Distinguished Unit Citation, the European Theater of Operations metal and six bronze stars for --Air Offensive Europe, Campaign Normandy, Campaign Northern France, Campaign Ardennes, Campaign Rhineland, and Campaign Central Europe. After World War II many of our men stayed on in the military to distinguished careers. Lou Sabille was killed flying a Mustang during the Korean War, resulting in a posthumous Medal of Honor. George Simler became Athletic Director at the Air Force Academy and rose to the rank of Lt. General later dying in a plane crash. Henry Newcomer and John Samuel rose to the rank of Major General and are now both retired from active duty. This is just a small portion that stayed on active duty and served with distinction in the Korean War and some even in the Viet Nam conflict. The 450th furnished Commanding Officers, Pilots, Mechanics, armament and communication personnel, all over the world, and we are proud of every one of them. The 322nd Bomb Group was part of the American Air Force which helped win the war while suffering the loss of 79,281 airmen and 22,000 airplanes. An RAF flyer wrote a memorial to the American airman: "You were very noisy, very boosy, very brash, very young, and bloody brave, God Bless you, and may you rest in eternal peace." The 322nd Bomb Group had two planes, chipped and battle scarred, with over 200 bombs painted on its fuselage. One "Flak Bait" is on display at the Smithsonian Institute. The other "Mild and Bitter" was blown up with hundreds of other B-26 at the end of the war. No other American bomber has ever matched the record of these two planes. |