96th. Bomb Group memorial window
Constituted as 96th. Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 28th. January 1942, the group activated on 15th. July 1942 equipped with the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress.
The group moved to England for duty with Eighth Air Force, flying from USAAF Station 106 Grafton Underwood from 16th. April 1943 to 27th. May 1943. They moved to USAAF Station 485 Andrews Field on 13th. May 1943 until 11th. June 1943 and then became operational on 12th. June 1943 at USAAF Station 138 Snetterton Heath in Norfolk.
The Group had the motto ' E Sempre Lora' (Always the Hour) and consisted of four squadrons,
337th. Bomb Squadron
338th. Bomb Squadron
339th. Bomb Squadron
413th. Bomb Squadron
The group was awarded two Distinguished Unit Citations for particularly testing missions.
The first was awarded for the bombing of an aircraft factory at Regensburg on 17th. August 1943 under intense pressure from enemy fighters.
The second was for leading the 45th. Bomb Wing a great distance through heavy clouds and intense anti-aircraft fire to drop their payload on important aircraft components factories at Poznan in Poland on 9th. April 1944.
Other significant targets included airfields in Bordeaux and Augsburg, marshalling yards in Kiel, Hamm, Brunswick, and Gdynia, aircraft factories in Chemnitz, Hannover, and Diosgyor, oil refineries in Merseburg and Brux, and chemical works in Weisbaden, Ludwigshafen, and Neunkirchen.
In addition to strategic operations, missions included bombing coastal defences, railway bridges, gun emplacements, and field batteries in the battle area prior to and during the invasion of Normandy in June 1944, attacking enemy positions in support of the breakthrough at St. Lo in July 1944, aiding the campaign in France in August 1944 by striking roads and road junctions, and by dropping supplies to the Maquis, rural guerrilla bands of French and Belgian Resistance fighters.
During the early months of 1945, the group attacked the supply lines to the German armies on the western front.
After V-E Day, the group flew food to Holland and transported redeployed personnel to French Morocco, Ireland, France, and Germany.
The group left Snetterton Heath on 11th. December 1945 to return to the US and were inactivated on 21st. December 1945.
Herbert Clifton Allen Jr. graduated from the University of Richmond in 1937 with a Bachelor of Science degree. He received his medical degree in 1941 from the Medical College of Virginia and served his rotating internship at Philadelphia General Hospital 1941-1942. He entered military service in 1942 as a Flight Surgeon, rising to the rank of Major in the 338th. Bomb Squadron, 96th. BG.
n 1994 he was honoured in Quidenham, Norfolk for his instrumental role in the acquisition of this memorial stained glass window in St. Andrew's church, Quidenham, close to the site of Snetterton Heath. The window honours the men of 96th. BG who lost their lives during WWII.
The 96th BG also honoured Dr. Allen for his contributions for the installation of a replica of the memorial window in the Mighty Eight Air Force Heritage Museum in Savannah, Georgia.
After WWII, Herbert Allen became a distinguished physician and pioneer in nuclear medicine. He died on 5th. August 2008, aged 91, and is buried in the Memorial Oaks Cemetery, Houston, Texas.
96th. Bomb Group memorial window
Constituted as 96th. Bombardment Group (Heavy) on 28th. January 1942, the group activated on 15th. July 1942 equipped with the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress.
The group moved to England for duty with Eighth Air Force, flying from USAAF Station 106 Grafton Underwood from 16th. April 1943 to 27th. May 1943. They moved to USAAF Station 485 Andrews Field on 13th. May 1943 until 11th. June 1943 and then became operational on 12th. June 1943 at USAAF Station 138 Snetterton Heath in Norfolk.
The Group had the motto ' E Sempre Lora' (Always the Hour) and consisted of four squadrons,
337th. Bomb Squadron
338th. Bomb Squadron
339th. Bomb Squadron
413th. Bomb Squadron
The group was awarded two Distinguished Unit Citations for particularly testing missions.
The first was awarded for the bombing of an aircraft factory at Regensburg on 17th. August 1943 under intense pressure from enemy fighters.
The second was for leading the 45th. Bomb Wing a great distance through heavy clouds and intense anti-aircraft fire to drop their payload on important aircraft components factories at Poznan in Poland on 9th. April 1944.
Other significant targets included airfields in Bordeaux and Augsburg, marshalling yards in Kiel, Hamm, Brunswick, and Gdynia, aircraft factories in Chemnitz, Hannover, and Diosgyor, oil refineries in Merseburg and Brux, and chemical works in Weisbaden, Ludwigshafen, and Neunkirchen.
In addition to strategic operations, missions included bombing coastal defences, railway bridges, gun emplacements, and field batteries in the battle area prior to and during the invasion of Normandy in June 1944, attacking enemy positions in support of the breakthrough at St. Lo in July 1944, aiding the campaign in France in August 1944 by striking roads and road junctions, and by dropping supplies to the Maquis, rural guerrilla bands of French and Belgian Resistance fighters.
During the early months of 1945, the group attacked the supply lines to the German armies on the western front.
After V-E Day, the group flew food to Holland and transported redeployed personnel to French Morocco, Ireland, France, and Germany.
The group left Snetterton Heath on 11th. December 1945 to return to the US and were inactivated on 21st. December 1945.
Herbert Clifton Allen Jr. graduated from the University of Richmond in 1937 with a Bachelor of Science degree. He received his medical degree in 1941 from the Medical College of Virginia and served his rotating internship at Philadelphia General Hospital 1941-1942. He entered military service in 1942 as a Flight Surgeon, rising to the rank of Major in the 338th. Bomb Squadron, 96th. BG.
n 1994 he was honoured in Quidenham, Norfolk for his instrumental role in the acquisition of this memorial stained glass window in St. Andrew's church, Quidenham, close to the site of Snetterton Heath. The window honours the men of 96th. BG who lost their lives during WWII.
The 96th BG also honoured Dr. Allen for his contributions for the installation of a replica of the memorial window in the Mighty Eight Air Force Heritage Museum in Savannah, Georgia.
After WWII, Herbert Allen became a distinguished physician and pioneer in nuclear medicine. He died on 5th. August 2008, aged 91, and is buried in the Memorial Oaks Cemetery, Houston, Texas.