458th Bomb Group
GroupRoger Freeman Collection image text.
The 458th Bomb Group (H) entered combat with the 8th Air Force in February 1944. Based at Horsham St. Faith in England, the combat crews participated in the decisive Campaigns 'Big Week', 'Big B', D-Day and the assault on Germany's oil industry waged by the USAAF up to VE-Day. The group also tested the operational use of 'Azon' radio-controlled bombs. The 458th flew a total of 240 missions, during which over 13,000 tons of ordnance was dropped, and was achieved at the cost of sixty-five crews MIA or involved in operational accidents. In the fall of 1944 the Group ceased bombing missions during to haul petrol to airfields in France as the Allies supply lines could not keep up with the rate at which the armies were moving eastwards.
Browse 458th Bomb Group photographs and other documents in the 2nd Air Division Memorial Library digital archive here: www.2ndair.org.uk/digitalarchive/Dashboard/Index/44
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
Unit stations
Station | Location | Date |
---|---|---|
Based |
Horsham St Faith | 29 January 1944 - 3 June 1945 |
Encompassing
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 458th Bomb Group 753rd Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 458th Bomb Group 490th Bomb Group 851st Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 14139227
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Airplane Mechanic-Gunner, Flight Engineer; waist gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 458th Bomb Group 753rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 3371047
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 458th Bomb Group 753rd Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Bombardier
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 458th Bomb Group 752nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 17051961
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: waist gunner
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Bachelor's Paradise
- Unit: 458th Bomb Group 755th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Unit: 458th Bomb Group 754th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Unit: 458th Bomb Group 752nd Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Ford's Folly
- Unit: 458th Bomb Group 754th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Unit: 458th Bomb Group
Mission
Related media
- Media Type: Video
- Collection Name: Rob Edwards collection
- Object Number: UPL 29770
- Description: Video and photographs of four memorials in Eastern England to seven lost planes.
- Media Type: Video
- Object Number: UPL 36458
- Description: Navigator Frank Furrelle describes the 14th mission of the B24 Liberator "Jolly Roger" of the 458th Bomb Group in Horsham St Faith, England. With two...
- Media Type: Video
- Collection Name: Rob Edwards collection
- Object Number: UPL 52547
- Description: Video of the memorial to the service and sacrifice of the 458th Bombardment Group (Heavy) who served at Horsham St Faith airfield, station 123
- Media Type: Document
- Collection Name: William L Beigel Collection
- Object Number: Document 15705
- Description: Extract from Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF) for Sergeant Harry Goldstein of the 458th Bomb Group researched by historian Bill Beigel. The...
- Media Type: Document
- Collection Name: William L Beigel Collection
- Object Number: Document 15804
- Description: Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF) for Flight Officer Fred B Herman of the 458th Bomb Group researched by historian Bill Beigel. The file...
- Media Type: Document
- Collection Name: William L Beigel Collection
- Object Number: Document 15816
- Description: Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF) for Technical Sergeant Glen O Hardeman of the 458th Bomb Group researched by historian Bill Beigel. The file...
- Media Type: Document
- Collection Name: William L Beigel Collection
- Object Number: Document 15939
- Description: Extract from Individual Deceased Personnel File (IDPF) for Staff Sergeant Everett E Russell of the 458th Bomb Group researched by historian Bill...
- Media Type: Document
- Object Number: UPL 73879
- Description: Samuel D. Scorza "A Navigator's Diary" 458th BG, 755th BS
Revisions
This is a much more comprehensive history highlight of the 458th as a unit than what was previously printed. The prior text made it seem like the group came in on the heels of the 457th BG, and only flew diversion missions and gas hauls in late 1944. Please feel free to contact me [email protected].
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Paul Andrews, Project Bits and Pieces, 8th Air Force Roll of Honor database / The Mighty Eighth. A History of the Units, Men and Machines of the US 8th Air Force.' by Roger A. Freeman (1989). 'Air Force Combat Units of World War II' compiled by the Department of the US Air Force, edited by Maurice Maurer (1983). / Units in the UK from ETOUSA Station List, as transcribed by Lt. Col. Philip Grinton (US Army, Retired) and extracted by IWM; air division data from L.D. Underwood, based on the 8th Air Force Strength Report of 6th August 1944, as published in 'The 8th Air Force Yearbook' by Lt. Col. John H Woolnough (1980)