451bg.org is a project of the Army Air Corps Library and Museum. Volunteers are transcribing servicemen names and their awards from General Orders that we are publishing on this website for enthusiasts, families and researchers of genealogy and World War II history. The names on this honor roll of men assigned to the 451st Bombardment Group is not a complete list of all who served with the 451st, however, we are attempting to locate as many documents that have survived as possible. Sources of material include the US National Archives, Air Force Historical Research Agency and the records donated by individual servicemen and their families. We hope you will find this information useful and enjoyable. We are accepting volunteers help in this very large World War II project as we preserve this history and honor service.
The 451st BG and their B-24's moved to the Mediterranean theater, November 1943-January 1944. They were based in Italy and assigned to the 15th Air Force. Flew strategic missions to oil refineries, aircraft factories, airfields, marshalling yards and other industrial targets. They were commended three times being awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) for missions to Regensburg 22 February 1944, Ploesti 5 April 1944 and Vienna 23 August 1944. They would be based in Italy through VE Day.
Constituted as 451st Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 6 Apr 1943. Activated on 1 May 1943. Prepared for combat with B-24's. Moved to the Mediterranean theater, Nov 1943-Jan 1944, with the air echelon training in Algeria for several weeks before joining the remainder of the group in Italy. Operated with Fifteenth AF, January 1944-May 1945, functioning primarily as a strategic bombardment organization. Attacked such targets as oil refineries, marshalling yards, aircraft factories, bridges, and airfields in Italy, France, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria, Albania, and Greece.
Col Robert E L Eaton, c. 1 May 1943
Col James B Knapp, 19 Sep 1944
Col Leroy L Stefonowicz, Dec 1944
Maj William H McGuire.
724th: 1943-1945. 725th: 1943-1945. 726th: 1943-1945. 727th: 1943-1945
Davis-Monthan Field, Ariz, 1 May 1943
Dyersburg AAFld, Tenn, 3 Jun 1943
Wendover Field, Utah, c. 18 Jul 1943
Fairmont AAFld, Neb, 9 Sep-16 Nov 1943
Gioia del Colle, Italy, c. 10 Jan 1944
San Pancrazio, Italy, c. 5 Mar 1944
Castelluccio Airfield, Italy, c. 6 Apr 1944-Jun 1945
Archival Combat Film Footage DVD of the 451st BG.
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We need your help! We are looking for volunteers that can help us with the following tasks.
(1) Typing and Transcriptionists: One of our big projects is extracting data from the thousands of documents we have and putting this data into a database where we can display the information on a website such as this one. (2) Photography and Document Scanning.
