Monument Details

Station 134 – RAF Eye Airfield Info Sign

Details:

Next to the left bench.

Marker A rectangular metal board inscribed in English text, in black lettering. Printed in colors on the top left is the insignia of the 490^th Bombardment Group and on the opposite side is the insignia of the US Army Air Forces. On the center left corner is the illustration of a B-24 and on the right center corner is the illustration of a B-17, also printed in colors. The dedication message is on the center. The plaque is affixed on a thick wood as its base, hanging horizontally and is supported by two wooden beams. It narrates the history of Station 134 – RAF Eye Airfield.

Monument Text:

(-490^th Bombardment Group

insignia-)

Station 134 – RAF Eye Airfield

(-US Army Air Forces insignia-)

Initially known as Brome Airfield, Station 134 was one of the last airbases to be built in wartime East Anglia. Construction commenced in September 1942 by the US Army's IX Engineer Command, 923rd Engineer Aviation Regiment. By late 1943 the airfield, which had three runways and fifty five aircraft dispersals, was declared operational and consequently turned over to the Army Air Forces on 7 December, 1943. On 1 April 1944 the entire aerodrome had been completed and after its official hand over, by the RAF, on 1 May, the 490th Bombardment Group (Heavy), of Mountain Home Army Air Force Base, Idaho, moved in almost immediately.

(-B-24 plane illustration-)

Operational Flying Squadrons:

490^th Headquarters Squadron

848^th Bombardment Squadron	850^th Bombardment Squadron
849^th Bombardment Squadron	851^st Bombardment Squadron

(-B-17 plane illustration-)

Station 134 Support Units:
1240th Quartermaster Company	2116th Engineer Fire Fighting Platoon	872nd Chemical Company
329^th Station Complement Squadron	417th Air Service Group	477th Sub-Depot
1276th Military Police Company	1448th Ordnance Supply & Maintenance Company	18th Weather Squadron
278th Medical Dispensary	214th Financial Section	American Red Cross

The 490th Bomb Group (H) entered combat on 31 May, 1944. Initially flying Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers on mainly tactical missions, the group bombed airfields and coastal defences in northern France before and during the invasion of Normandy. Missions destroying V-Weapon sites, bridges, railway lines, vehicles and road junctions were also flown. From September 1944 and then on until the end of World War II, the aircrews, flying new Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, participated in the bombing of a number of strategic industrial sites in Germany.

The 490th Bomb Group flew one hundred and fifty-eight Combat Missions and had the lowest missing in action losses in the 8th Air Force over an extended period of time.

The 490th Bomb Group Memorial Project

www.490th.co.uk

Commemorates:

Units:

1240th Quartermaster Company

1276th Military Police Company

1448th Ordnance Supply & Maintenance Company

18th Weather Squadron

2116th Engineer Fire Fighting Platoon

214th Financial Section

278th Medical Dispensary

329th Station Complement Squadron

417th Air Service Group

477th Sub-Depot

490th Headquarters Squadron

848th Bombardment Squadron

849th Bomber Squadron, 490th Bombardment Group, Heavy

850th Bomber Squadron, 490th Bomber Group, Heavy

851st Bombardment Squadron

872nd Chemical Company

8th Air Force

923rd Engineer Aviation Regiment

9th Air Force

9th Engineer Command, 9th Air Force

US Army Air Corps

Wars:

WWII

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