Group Poop

This section contains the latest news regarding what's happening with the website and details about the bomb group.

Latest News!

See the new section with pictures and documents from the new "445^th Air Lift Wing Heritage Wall" in the 445^th AW Headquarters building at Wright Patterson AFB, OH. This project was masterminded by LtCol Chris Clark, Deputy Commander, 445th Operations Group. Chris contacted this website about a year ago and was looking for information about the 445^th to be included in their project. The 445^th Public Affairs handled the production of images to go on the wall and sent me verbiage for the static displays (one of Jimmy Stewart, and the other for LeRoy W. Homer, Jr., pilot of United Airlines Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001 who had been a member of the 445^th Airlift Wing).

Stand by for details on the formation of the 445^th Bomb Group Memorial Association (445BGMA) - a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the history of the 445^th Bomb Group for future generations. The process to get the society up and running is underway.
Using some of the material from Kelsey McMillan (389^th BG), the map section is starting to be populated. These are the route maps showing planned and actual routes, times and altitudes flown at.
Information is coming regarding the Historical Wall in the 445^th Airlift Wing Headquarters building at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio. They trace their heritage back directly to the 445^th Bomb Group. Pictures and other material will be posted as it arrives.

I've added a link to allow you to download the Google Earth™ application and the 445^th specific map file. To install the Google Earth™ program, simply click on this link and it will prompt you to either 'Run' or 'Cancel' the installation of Google Earth™ on your computer. It is a free application from Google and has been virus checked so just click on the 'Run' button to start. Once it is installed, you can just click on this link to open the 445^th Bomb Group target map. The yellow push pins mark the targets the 445^th bombed and on what day and the 445^th mission number.

Thanks to Kelsey McMillan, the webmaster for the 389th Bomb Group, we now have 24.7 GB (that's gigabytes or 1000 MB) of records dealing with the 2nd Bomb Wing which was made up of the 389th, 445th, and 453rd Bomb Groups. There are Tactical Mission Reports; copies of Wing Wash put out by the 2nd Bomb Wing; copies of Target Victory; parts of the 2nd Bomb Wing history; and other material about the 2nd Air Division.

Just a quick scan has already yielded some great finds - like M/Sgt Allison being awarded the Legion Of Merit medal for his efforts as a ground crew chief maintaining 7 aircraft at the same time! This award included his actions in finding a fuel leak in an airplane scheduled to fly in the morning. Under his guidance, the wing tank was replaced (normally a 36 hour job) in time for the plane to fly the next morning.

Another find was the Tactical Mission Report for the 445th's first mission on Dec. 13, 1943. In there was the report that only 11 of the 15 aircraft that took of made it to the target. In Birsic's history he indicated that only 3 aircraft aborted. There were also details as to the route, bomb load (10 - 500lb GP bombs each plane), expenditures (55,000lbs dropped on the target, 15,000lbs salvoed into the North Sea, and 5,000lbs returned to base).

More will be posted as it is found.

Reprint of the Birsic book - History of the 445th Bomb Group

The long awaited reprint of the "Unofficial History of the 445th Bombardment Group (Heavy)" is out. This book differs from the original book in that it combines both printings; the original book printed in 1947 and the supplement published in 1950. The book (soft cover edition) also has been updated with information from the National Archives and Records Agency (NARA) and from the Air Force Historical Research Agency (AFHRA) at Maxwell AFB, AL. The original unit roster created by Birsic has been expanded to identify which squadron each person was assigned to as well as whether they were air crew or ground support personnel. Three copies of the book are going to the Memorial Library over in England

Layaway Program for Book/Mission History Purchase

Given the tight economic times, those who would like to order a Personal Mission History or a reprint of the 445th Bomb Group history can now take advantage of a layaway program to spread out your payments over a period of time. The history still requires a lot of manual processing and is taking longer than expected to produce a document that meets the high standards of accuracy and style set by the producers.

Pay what you can, when you can. When your order is paid for, it will be shipped to you.

Personal Mission Histories

Personal Mission Histories are taking longer than usual to get out. I would like to apologize for the delay, but going through them to insure they are mistake-free is slowing down the delivery. It seems the last few mission histories done have had numerous errors and omissions due to a preliminary search of an electronic database originally set up by Dick Gelvin.

To correct this means completely redesigning the database schema and re-entering the data. As you can imagine, the amount of data is extensive with over 4,000 airmen, each flying an average of 20 missions. The entering of the data has begun and this time, it's being done with emphasis on detail.

Future Projects

Now that the History of the 445th is published, it's time to start looking at other projects in the works:

Commissioning of a painting for a book cover

I have contacted Alexandre Jay, an aviation artist, to see about doing a painting to use as a book cover for the next book about the 445th Bomb Group. This book was written by Hal Turrell, an original member of the 703rd Bomb Squadron, who flew over with the unit in October, 1943. Hal passed away before getting the book finished. Dick Gelvin tried to finish it, but he also passed away before getting it finished. The manuscript was passed down to me and I intend on completing it. Everything but the statistics are complete, so that's what I'm going to complete.

445th Bomb Group Photo Album

I have a collection of some 1,000+ photographs sent in by family members and former members of the 445th that will make a nice addition to a mission history and/or other collectables. This collection consists of crew photos, individuals, aircraft nose art, formation shots, photos on base, strike photos, and pictures of English towns and cities.

Detailed History of the 445th Bomb Group

While the original History of the 445th Bomb Group was a synopsis of the 280 missions flown by the 445th, this book (or should I say volume of books) will chronicle the 445th from the day they were formed in the Spring of 1943 until the unit was disbanded in September, 1945. A detailed look at each of the missions will be done: what crews flew that day; their bomb load; Intelligence briefing data on flak and fighters; routes to and from the target; fighter escort plans; and the tactical mission report indicating how well the target was struck. The 108 air crews shot down which resulted in a Missing Air Crew Report (MACR) being created will be included with information on the POWs and where they were held.

Webmaster: Mike Simpson

Last Updated: April 23, 2011