398th Bombardment Group (Heavy) - Statistical History
Constituted as 398th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 15 February
1943 and activated on 1 March 1943. Prepared for combat with B-17's, but
interrupted these activities from July to December 1943, to train replacement
crews for other units. Moved to England in April 1944 and assigned to Eighth AF.
Entered combat in May 1944, and until V-E Day operated primarily against
strategic objectives in Germany, attacking targets such as: factories in
Berlin, warehouses in Munich, marshalling yards in Saarbrucken, shipping
facilities in Kiel, oil refineries in Merseburg, and aircraft plants in Munster.
Temporarily suspended strategic missions to attack coastal defences and enemy troops on the Cherbourg peninsula during the Normandy invasion in June 1944; strike gun positions near Eindhoven in support of the air attack on Holland in September 1944; raid power stations, railroads, and bridges during the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944-January 1945; and attack airfields to aid the Allied assault across the Rhine in March 1945. Flew last combat mission, attacking an airfield in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia, on 25 April 1945. Transported liberated prisoners from Germany to France after V-E Day. Returned to the US, May-June 1945. Inactivated on 1 September 1945