Lineage. Constituted as 489 Bombardment Group, Heavy, on 14 Sep 1943. Activated on 1 Oct 1943. Redesignated as 489 Bombardment Group, Very Heavy, on 28 Mar 1945. Inactivated on 17 Oct 1945. Redesignated as 489 Bomb Group on 8 Oct 2015. Activated on 17 Oct 2015.
Assignments. Second Air Force, 1 Oct 1943; Eighth Air Force, c. 1 May 1944; Second Air Force, 12 Dec 1944-17 Oct 1945. 307 Bomb Wing, 17 Oct 2015-.
Operational Components. Squadrons. 844 Bombardment: 1 Oct 1943-17 Oct 1945; 845 Bombardment: 1 Oct 1943-17 Oct 1945; 846 Bombardment: 1 Oct 1943-17 Oct 1945; 847 Bombardment: 13 Oct 1943-17 Oct 1945.
Stations. Wendover Field, UT, 1 Oct 1943-3 Apr 1944; Halesworth, England, c. 1 May-Nov 1944; Bradley Field, CT, 12 Dec 1944; Lincoln AAFld, NE, 17 Dec 1944; Great Bend AAFld, KS, c. 28 Feb 1945; Davis-Monthan Field, AZ, 3 Apr 1945; Faimont AAFld, NE, c. 13 Jul 1945; Ft. Lawton, WA, 23 Aug 1945; March Field, CA, 2 Sep-17 Oct 1945. Dyess AFB, TX, 17 Oct 2015-.
Commanders. Col Ezekiel W. Napier, 20 Oct 1943; Lt Col Robert E. Killimer, 5 Feb 1945; Col Paul C. Ashworth, 11 Apr 1945-unkn.
Aircraft. B-24, 1943-1944; B-29, 1945.
Operations. After training in Utah with B-24s for heavy bombardment missions overseas, the group moved to England during Apr 1944, arriving at its assigned base at the beginning of May. Flew bombing missions to prepare for the Normandy invasion in June. The deputy group commander, Lt Col Leon R. Vance, earned the Medal of Honor for his actions during a mission on 5 Jun 1944. The group supported the Normandy landings the next day, and afterwards bombed interdiction targets in northern France. In July, the group began flying missions into Germany, bombing strategic targets such as factories, oil refineries, and storage facilities, as well as marshalling yards and airfields. The organization took part in the saturation bombing just before the breakthrough of Allied forces at St. Lo in France. It dropped food to liberated areas in France and the Netherlands in Aug and Sep, 1944. In late Nov and early Dec, the group returned to the United States to prepare for redeployment to the Pacific Theater of Operations. In the spring of 1945, it began training with B-29s. The war against Japan ended before the group deployed to the Pacific.
Service Streamers. World War II American Theater.
Campaign Streamers. World War II: Air Offensive, Europe; Normandy; Northern France; Rhineland.
Armed Forces Expeditionary Streamers. None.
Decorations. None.
Lineage, Assignments, Stations, and Honors through 14 Dec 2015.
Commanders, Aircraft, and Operations through 17 Oct 1945.
Supersedes statement published in Maurer Maurer, Air Force Combat Units of World War II (Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History, 1983), 358-359.
Emblem. Approved on 23 May 2016
Prepared by Daniel L. Haulman