The Flying Horsemen

Long Range Heavy Bombardment Group
B-24 Aircraft

Jan 1944 - April 1945
Grottaglie, Italy

European Theater
 15th Air Force -- 47th Wing
          449th Bomb Group
                      716th Squadron
                      717th Squadron
                      718th Squadron
                         719th Squadron    

 The
449th Bomb Group (H)
(Fifteenth Air Force, 47th Wing, World War II )

This site is dedicated to the men of the
449th Bombardment Group (Heavy) in WW II

          254 Combat Missions in 475 days of combat          
103 B-24 bombers lost
199 Axis fighters destroyed

Personnel Losses
388 Airmen

Interred or Evaded
363 POWs
159 evaded capture

          Presidential Unit Citations (PUC)          
Bucharest, Rumania: April 4, 1944
Ploesti, Rumania: July 9, 1944

449th Bomb Group Association
Organized in 1983

The 449th Bomb Group
in World War II

The 449th Bomb Group, a component of the 15th Air Force,
operated from its base near Grottaglie, Italy from January 1944 to May 1945. The 449th flew 254 combat missions over
Europe and Eastern Asia.

About the 449th BG In World War II

Theater of Operations: January 1944 to May 1945

Original Cadre Air Crews: The List of Officers and
Enlisted Men of the Flight Echelon (December 1944)

Summary of the Missions of the 449th BG

The Original Aircraft of the 449th BG

Summary of Aircraft Lost and Missing

Nose Art: The Aircraft of the 449th BG

The GAB Base Newsletter (2 Issues)

The War Diary of Group Historian Lt. Damon Turner (Nov. '44 - June '44)

PLOESTI Missions of the 449th

The PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATION Missions
of the 449th

BIG WEEK and the 449th

Glossary of Terms

Picture  Gallery

     Views of Grottaglie Field      

200th Mission Phamplet

The 449th Bomb Group was composed of four squadrons.
The Squadron emblems are shown below.


716th Squadron


717th Squadron


718th Squadron


719th Squadron

The 449th Bomb Group
Association

The 449th Bomb Group Association (BGA) was formed in 1983 through the efforts of Dick Downey. The 449th BGA was initially composed of the veterans of the 449th BG . Recently the organization has been expanded to the 2nd Generation to include family members and others interested in preserving the history and the heritage of the 449th.

The 449th Bomb Group Association

The 2nd Generation

The 449th BGA PX

The Oral History Project

Where to Find 449th Historical Records

"Late Pass!" -- Winter 2011 Issue

"Late Pass!"  Newsletters

  The Newsletters of the 449th
Bomb Group Association
(1982 - 2011)

Books About the 449th BG

List of Books About
The 449th BG
Planning is underway for the 20th Reunion of the 449th Bomb Group to be held in the Spring of 2013 in Louisville, Kentucky. Information will be posted as it becomes available.

Scenes from the 19th Reunion
(Reno, NV  September 2011)

Scenes from the 18th Reunion
(Washington, DC  Apr 2010)

Scenes from the 17th Reunion
(Rapid City, SD  September 2008)

449th Commanding Officer, Col
Jack Randolph, Passes Away

Special Links

The World War II Memorial
National Registry
From this link you can register a veteran in the World War II Memorial National Registry. All 449th veterans are urged to register.

The Library of Congress
Veterans History Project
From this link you can submit a variety of
information pertaining to the experiences of
veterans in World War II and other conflicts.

This site is maintained for the 449th BG Association by Norfield Publishing .

Copyright 2003-2011 by Norfield Publishing.
Send email to norfield@knology.net with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: March 2011

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