On the east side of the intersection.

Monument

A freestanding granite obelisk on a plinth that is set on a raised granite platform surrounded by slabs on a mown grass area. The front face of the plinth holds a metal plaque in raised lettering while on the other sides are engraved and in black lettering, all inscriptions are in English. The monument was dedicated in September 1945.

Opened in 1942, RAF Wendling was used by both the Royal Air Force (RAF) and United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). During the war it was used primarily as a bomber airfield, being the home of the United States Army Air Forces Eighth Air Force 392nd Bombardment Group.

The airfield was used by the 392d Bombardment Group (Heavy) in 1943, arriving from Alamogordo Army Airfield, New Mexico in the southwest of the US, on 18 July 1943. The 453rd was assigned to the 14th Combat Bombardment Wing, and the group tail code was a "Circle-D".

Its operational squadrons were:

576th Bombardment Squadron (CI)

577th Bombardment Squadron (DC)

578th Bombardment Squadron (EC)

579th Bombardment Squadron (GC)

The group flew Consolidated B-24 Liberators as part of the Eighth Air Force's strategic bombing campaign.

The 392d BG entered combat on 9 September 1943 and engaged primarily in bombardment of strategic objectives on the Continent until April 1945. The group attacked such targets as an oil refinery at Gelsenkirchen, a marshaling yard at Osnabrück, a railroad viaduct at Bielefeld, steel plants at Brunswick, a tank factory at Kassel, and gas works at Berlin.

The group took part in the intensive campaign of heavy bombers against the German aircraft industry during Big Week, 20 – 25 February 1944, being awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) for bombing an aircraft and component parts factory at Gotha on 24 February. The unit sometimes supported ground forces or carried out interdictory operations along with bombing airfields and V-weapon sites in France prior to the Normandy invasion in June 1944 and struck coastal defenses and choke points on D-Day.

The group hit enemy positions to assist ground forces at Saint-Lô during the breakthrough in July 1944. Bombed railroads, bridges, and highways to cut off German supply lines during the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944 – January 1945. Dropped supplies to Allied troops during the air attack on Holland in September 1944 and during the airborne assault across the Rhine in March 1945.

The 392nd Bomb Group flew its last combat mission on 25 April 1945, then carried food to the Dutch. The unit returned to Charleston Army Airfield South Carolina, in the northeast of the USA on 25 June 1945 and was inactivated on 13 September 1945.

Source of information: www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk, Imperial War Museum War Memorials Register, en.wikipedia.org

Source of images: www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk

Front:

392^ND BOMB GROUP

8^TH AIR FORCE

U.S. ARMY AIR FORCES

STATION 118

WENDLING

IN HONOR OF

747 AIRMEN

WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES

AND ALL WHO SERVED
 WITH THEM AT THIS BASE

JULY 1943 - JUNE 1945

Left-hand side:

392^ND BOMBARDMENT GROUP (H)

HEADQUARTERS

576^TH BOMBARDMENT SQUADRON (H)

577^TH BOMBARDMENT SQUADRON (H)

578^TH BOMBARDMENT SQUADRON (H)

579^TH BOMBARDMENT SQUADRON (H)

OF THE

UNITED STATES EIGHTH AIR FORCE

Right-hand side:

465^TH SUB-DEPOT (CLASS I.)

10^TH STATION COMPLEMENT SQUADRON

1217^TH QM. SERVICE GROUP (RS.)

1825^TH ORDNANCE S&M CO (AVN)

1287^TH MILITARY POLICE DET "A"

806^TH CHEMICAL CO (AO) DET "A"

586^TH ARMY POSTAL UNIT

208^TH FINANCE DETACHMENT

2101^ST ENGR FIRE-FIGHTING PLATOON

OF THE

UNITED STATES EIGHTH AIR FORCE