8th AF/3rd Bombardment Division/92nd Combat Bombardment Wing (04/05/44 to 11/22/44)
8th AF/3rd BD/4th Bomb. Wing (P) (11/22/44 to 01/01/45)
8th AF/3rd Air Div./4th BW (P) (01/01/45 to 02/16/45)
8th AF/3rd AD/4th CBW (02/16/45 to 08/45)

General History

The 486th BG(H) started its service as the 80th Bombardment Squadron (Light) of the 45 BG (L) for the purposes of training. The group was stood up on 20 November 1940 and trained out of Grenier Field near Mancheser, NH. The group flew the A-20 "Havoc" bomber.

The attack on Pearl Harbor devastated the US Fleet and the naval threat posed by the Japanese forced the navy to move many ships to the Pacific for defense. The remaining ships performed convoy escort, which left the littoral zones of the US lightly guarded. A fact that the German Kriegsmarine exploited to attack allied shipping. The Navy attempted to revise the "Q-ship" program first employed by the British during WWI. Q-ships were ships that looked like innocent merchants, but carried concealed deck guns to do battle with any German sub that surfaced and attempted to use their deck guns to sink them. The Q-ship program had limited success, so the US Army Air Force was called upon to supplement the Navy's effort until it could rebuild both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets.

In May 1942, the 45th was relocated to Dover AAB and traded their A-20s in for B-18 "Bolos". At the same time, the 80th BG(L) became the 9th Antisubmarine Squadron. Later that year the group transferred to Miami and conducted missions from the air field there. The 45th would soon be redesignated the 26th Antisubmarine Wing of the Army Air Force Antisubmarine Command.

The group would move about and ultimately flew missions out of Langley AAB, VA. They would transition to the B-25 "Mitchell" and finally the B-24 "Liberator". The 9th would become the 835th BS(H) of the 486th BG(H).

The 486th was created on September 14, 1943 and was activated 6 days later at McCook Army Airfield, Nebraska with COL Glendon P. Overing commanding. The group was originally the 9th Antisubmarine squadron stationed in Miami, FL. This squadron was redesignated the 835th bomber squadron assigned to the 486th. The remaining squadrons (832nd, 833rd, and 834th) were created shortly thereafter. Prior to their overseas deployment the crews worked up in the B-24H and B-24J "Liberators" at McCook and Davis-Monthan Field, Ariz. The 486th was transferred to England in March of 1944 and stationed at Sudbury, England, located NE of London.

The group would fly 49 missions in the liberators until July 21, 1944. The first sortie was against the marshalling yards at Liege, FR and all aircraft returned. The 486th would lose only 8 liberators before the transition to the B-17G "Flying Fortresses" began in July.

The original group symbol was a black "O" in a white square. The square was painted on the tail, top right wing, and bottom left wing. The square identified 3rd Air Division aircraft, the O signified the group. However, when the transition to the B-17 began it was thought the "O" would be confused with the "D" of the 100th BG. To avoid any confusion all 486th Fortresses were identified by a white "W" in a black square.

The Liberators were originally painted olive drab on all upper surfaces, and light gray-blue on all ventral surfaces. This paint scheme was originally meant to camouflage the aircraft. When the Fortresses arrived they had only a natural aluminum finish. It was felt that the 8th had gained air superiority and it was believed that weight savings could be used to better advantage. Color was still used to identify planes from various units. This allowed for quicker identification of other aircraft and allowed various units to assemble more efficiently. It was also recognized that color could be used as a morale booster and build esprit de corps.

The group originally belonged to the 92nd combat bombardment wing when it began operations in April of 1944. In November of 1944 the 486th and its sister group, the 487th, were reassigned to the 4th combat bombardment wing. By December of 1944 the 4th CBW also began painting a chevron on the wing surfaces near the end. This chevron was two toned; the outer leg was insignia blue, and the inner leg was painted insignia red. On existing aircraft the chevron was painted over the square W on the wings, obscuring it for the most part. By late January 1945, the 4th CBW began having the entire vertical and horizontal stabilizers painted yellow, wing colors. The 486th BG aircraft were identified by 3 36" yellow bands spaced 12" apart forward of the horizontal stabilizers. Planes of a particular squadron within the 486th could also be identified by a color band aft of the bombardiers bubble. The 832nd's color was yellow, followed by blue, red and green for the 833rd, 834th and 835th respectively.

The 486th flew 192 combat missions, losing 49 aircraft. In early May of 1945, the 486th took part in food drops to the Netherlands. The retreating Germans had flooded the low lands and left the Dutch in a sad state. Following VE day, the 486th conducted "Victory Tours." These tours were flown to give ground crews a look at the damage that their planes had created. These flights took up to 10 passengers with a minimum crew and flew at 2500 ft. "Survival/Mercy Missions" followed and continued into June. These missions carried food to various places in continental Europe. After dropping off the food shipment, passengers (ex-POWs or exiles) would be boarded and flown back to their homelands.

Throughout the summer of 45 the 486th made preparations for relocation to the PTO following 30 days of R&R stateside. However, in August the Japanese surrendered and the redeployment to the Pacific was cancelled. The final remnants of the 486th left Sudbury, England in late August, 1945. Stateside the 486th conducted operations out of Drew Field, Tampa, FL. On October 10, the airbase at Sudbury was transferred back to the RAF; the 486th was de-activated on November 4th.

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