Station 365, Halesworth, Suffolk.
 

Hello,
Am seeking P47 Formation Monitors.

Units that were at Halesworth were -
5th ERS( P47's).
56th FG ( P47's).
95th Bombardment Wing.
489 & 491 Bomber Groups.
Also -
489th FG(?) [ May - November 1944 rtd USA December 1944.
Squadrons given as 844;845;846;847]. A/c type ?

Many thanks
Alex

Re: Station 365, Halesworth, Suffolk.
 

Hi Alex

Not sure what you mean with "formation monitors". Formation assembly aircraft perhaps? If so I did not know they needed dedicated P-47s for that.

I can say however that I doubt 491BG was based there. My listings have completely different bases for that unit.

Also there was no 489FG. That is a confusion with 489BG which had the subordinated 844-847BS attached to it. It was equipped with B-24s and went back to the States to re-equip with the B-29 and move to the Far East.

Cheers
Stig

Re: Station 365, Halesworth, Suffolk.
 

Thank you Stig, you confirmed my thoughts about the 489th FG. The book "Hacks" has it on page 23. Also mentioned on the same page is the 491st BG.
Alex

Re: Station 365, Halesworth, Suffolk.
 

Alex,

Your thoughts would have received another boost if you had have looked at p.70 (bottom of page), of the self-same publication:

Hacks - Utility Planes of the Mighty Eighth.
Jackiewicz,Jacek,
Poland:Atelier Kecay,n.d.

Col.

Re: Station 365, Halesworth, Suffolk.
 

If you are recording P-47D ops out of Halesworth, I have this from the 405th Fighter Bomber Group (later FG);

On 13th May, the 405th FG provided part of the escort for the 3rd Air Task Force, Eighth Air Force, which sent 199 B-17s to bomb the marshalling yards at Osnabruck. Unfortunately, things started to go wrong for the 405th from the start. The Group took off at 08.30 hours from Christchurch with sufficient fuel just to reach Halesworth (Station 365) in Suffolk, as it was the intention to refuel all the Squadron aircraft once they got there. However, due to an oversight not all their aircraft could be refuelled at Halesworth, so only thirty-five aircraft of the Group were able to take off again at 12.34 hrs, in time to rendezvous with the bombers.