489th Bombardment Group at Halesworth
History
The 489th Bombardment Group was stationed at Halesworth in Suffolk, England, from May 1944 to November 1944.
It was activated on October 1, 1943 at Wendover Field in Utah.
The group was formed and trained at Wendover Field, except for some specialised training for certain detachments of the group.
The 489th left Utah on April 3 1944 for England. The air crews flew their 70 B-24 Liberators via the southern ferry route through South America and Africa.
The ground crews travelled from New York via the USS Wakefield on April 13 1944.
Their destination was Halesworth, the closest Second Air Division airfield to the English Channel.
The first mission was against Oldenburg, Germany on May 30 1944.
From this date, until their last mission on November 10 1944, the group flew 106 missions for 2,998 sorties. They lost 26 aircraft in combat.
A 489th Bomb Group airman, Lt Col Leon R Vance, was awarded the Medal of Honor.
This was for his bravery and sacrifice on June 5 1944 during a mission against French coast defences in preparation for D-Day.
The 489th was the first bomb group from the Eighth Air Force to be redeployed to the United States.
The group was relieved of their assignment on November 29 1944.
The 489th was officially returned to the United States for redeployment to the Pacific, but many of the aircraft and personnel were reassigned to other bomb groups in England.
If you want to view various records relating to the 489th, visit our digital archive.
Halesworth Airfield (Station 365)
Halesworth became an American base in May 1943.
Early in July that year the 56th Fighter Group at Boxted arrived from Horsham St Faith (now home to Norwich Airport).
The unit left for Boxted Airfield in April 1944 and in its place came the 489th Bomb Group.
All sites are now private property and you will need permission before you visit.
The library has information on some base contacts and with their permission can pass this onto you. The Library itself is unable to organise site visits.
The former airfield site, also known as Holton, is about two miles north-east of Halesworth.
It's between the A144 Halesworth to Bungay road and the B1124 Halesworth to Beccles road.
Remaining buildings
The airfield site is now mainly used for agriculture and few wartime buildings remain.
Most of the runways, perimeter track, etc, are being used by Bernard Matthews Limited as a turkey plant.
A number of large sheds have been erected on the runways.
This is a similar situation to several other Second Air Division airfields.
There are a few derelict huts and ancillary buildings on some of the dispersed sites.
The cockpit section of a C54 is on display at the old combat mess site, which is further along the road from the memorial.
Memorials
A granite memorial stands at the southern end of the old north-south runway.
This was dedicated to the 489th Bomb Group in May 1983 and is pictured below.
Next to this are memorials to the 56th Fighter Group who also flew from Halesworth and the 5th Emergency Rescue Squadron.
On the wall inside St Peter's Church, Holton, there's a plaque in honour of all who flew from this airfield.
Kneelers made by 489th Bomb Group veterans' wives are also in this church.
Opposite the main entrance to Holton Hall Park, a drop tank gives details of the three groups who served at Halesworth Airfield during the Second World War.
Museum
The Halesworth Airfield Memorial Museum features collections of Second World War memorabilia, including items specific to the airfield's history.
It is based in Sparrowhawk Road, Upper Holton.
The 489th Bomb Group Museum relocated here in 2012 from its original home at Hardwick.
If you want to visit the museum, you can find more details on the Halesworth Airfield Museum website.
Bibliography
Several good histories of the 489th Bomb Group are available for use in the American Library.
These histories include:
- Charles H Freudenthal: A History of the 489th Bomb Group
- Peter Bodle and Paddy (Pat) Cox: The 489th Bomb Group in Suffolk: A Pictorial History
Information about the individual bases comes from from George H Fox's 8th Air Force Remembered: An illustrated guide to the memorials, memorabilia and main airfields of the US 8th Air Force in England in WW2 (London: ISO Publications, 1991).
For more on the history of the airfield, see:
- Martin Bowman: Bomber Bases of WW2: 2nd Air Division 8th Air Force USAAF 1942-45
- Michael Bowyer: Action Stations Revisited: No 1 Eastern England
- Ken Delve: The Military Airfields of Britain: East Anglia (Norfolk and Suffolk)
- Roger Freeman: Airfields of the Eighth Then and Now
If you're interested in any of these books you can find and reserve them at the Norfolk Online Catalogue.
Images
489th Bomb Group memorial
The memorial to the 489th Bomb Group at the southern end of the runway.
