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A short history of the
93rd Bombardment Group (H)
| Known as The Travelling Circus, or Ted's Travelling Circus, the 93rd
was assigned to the 8th Air Force on September 6th 1942. It comprised of
the following four Bombardment Squadrons. |
328th
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329th
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330th
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409th
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Squadron Insignia
| Initially stationed at Alconbury from the 6th September 1942, the group
moved to Hardwick on December 6th 1942 where they stayed until June 12th
1945. The group was equipped with the Liberator flying the B-24D, B-24E,
B-24H, B-24J, and finally the B-24L and B-24M models. |
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B-24D
| The first mission of the 93rd Bomb Group came on October 9th 1942,
with their last taking place on April 25th 1945. During this time they
flew a total of 396 missions, of which 49 were from North Africa. The Group
dropped 19,004 tons of bombs, and achieved 8,169 credit sorties with 140
aircraft missing in action. The 93rd also became the oldest and most travelled
B-24 group assigned to the 8th Air Force, flying more missions than any
other bomb group in the 8th Air Force, with 'Bomerang' becoming the first
8th Air force B-24 to fly 50 missions.
The group received two Distinguished Unit Citations the first for its
operations in North Africa from 17 December 1942 to 20 February 1943 and
the second for the Ploesti raid on 1 August 1943. The Ploesti raid also
resulted in two medals of honour being posthumously awarded to the Group
Commanding Officer, Lt. Col. Addison E. Baker and Major John L. Jerstad
flying the B-24 'Hells Wench' at low level over the Romanian Oil Fields. |
© All pictures are the copyright of the 93rd
BG Museum, UK unless otherwise stated.
Site information provided by the 93rd
BG Museum, UK
Site created by R
Fenton, page last updated 12/01/2002
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