The FireBall Outfit

750st Bomb Sq. planer, "Que Up"
748th B.S. plane profile	749th B.S. plane profile	751st B.S. plane profile

    The 457th B.G. (H) began on 18 May, 1943, and the group was disbanded on 28 August, 1945. It endured for 2 years, 3 months, and nine days. A total of 236 combat missions were flown, with a loss of 86 planes and 729 men either killed, wounded , taken prisoner, or even interned in neutral territory. Another 78 men made it through enemy lines after being shot down.

    The 457th B.G. (H), known as the "Fireball Outfit", participated in six campaigns within the E.T.O. - Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe, and Air Offensive Europe. Their base of operations in England was out of Glatton, from January 22, 1944 to June 1, 1945.

    The 457th bomb group was part of the 94th Wing of 1st Division of the 8th Air Force. The 8th Air Force was made up of three Divisions, the First and Third were B17's and the Second was B24's.

    The 94th Wing was made up of three groups. The other two groups in our wing were the 351st Group located at Polebrook and the 401st Group at Denethorpe. The three fields were located only a short distance apart. Brigadier General Williams was commander of the 1st Bomb Division, and Brig Gen Julius Kahn Lacey was the commander of the 94th Wing. Each Group within a Wing would rotate in leading the Wing on a mission. Generally each Wing was assigned to the same target and flew together in the Division bomber stream.

    The 457th was in the parish of Conington, County of Huntingdonshire, in East Anglia. There was another field named Coningsby nearby so it was determined to name the field for a small village in the area named Glatton. The base was located on Highway A1, called the Old North Road. It was a winding narrow two lane road built by the Romans when they occupied England. Glatton was about 60 miles North of London, and ten miles south of the town of Peterborough.

    The group trained initially on B-17's, and their baptism was truly by fire... their first mission was on February 21, 1944 during the time known as "Big Week", participating in a mass attack on the German air industry.

    The group consisted of 4 bomb squadrons, the 748th, 749th, 750th, and the 751st. As far as I can tell, there is no difference in markings between the 4 groups.

    The base call sign for Glatton was "Nuttree" and the air call sign was "Woodcraft Baker".

Squadron Insignia:
	748th B.S.	749th B.S.	750th B.S.	751st B.S.

	457th B.G. manouvers thru flak on the way to the target.      USAF Museum photo
	457th B.G. in formation.      USAF Museum photo
	High cirrus clouds and the contrails of fighter escorts form a backdrop for 457th B-17's in the spring of 1944.      USAF Museum photo
	457th B.G. B-17G.      USAF Museum photo
	Two 457th B.G. B-17's waiting for another mission in the winter.      USAF Museum photo
	Serial no. 338534, letter F, is a plane known as "The Wolf Pack" of the 749th B.S. It survived the war and returned to US in June '45. USAF Museum photo
	Serial no. 337828, letter L, is a plane named "Remember Me" and later "Georgia Peach" of the 749th B.S. It crash landed in France on a mission to Kaiserslautern, Germany on Dec 30, '44. None of the crew were hurt and the plane was returned to service as Georgia Peach and survived to return to the US in June '45.      USAF Museum photo
	"Remember Me?" photographed at the 20th F.G. base in Kings Cliffe after a mission. The plane required 2 new engines and a wingtip! Mission count under the pilots window shows 35 missions. Jim Sterling Photo
	457th B-17 "R" ready to go!      USAF Museum photo
	Fueling begins as another mission approaches.      USAF Museum photo
	Serial no. 38064 letter G is the plane known as "Arf and Arf" 749th squadron. It was lost in a mid air collision over the channel on Nov 8th 1944 on a mission to Mersberg. Two planes collided at 18000 feet. The surviving plan "Bad Times II" crash landed in Dover and was repaired and later returned to service. (July 23, '44)      USAF Museum photo
	Another view of Arf and Arf.      USAF Museum photo
	View out the gunners window, during a slow moment...      USAF Museum photo
	Serial no. 297075, letter V, is the B17 "Flack Dodger" of the 750th B.S. shown here dropping her bombs from above an undercast during 1944. Her name is appropriate - This plane survived the war and was returned to the US in June '45.     USAF Museum photo
	Early 457th B.G. mission, leaving condensation trails (contrails) over a clouded target. A. Willard Reese photo.
	Formations of 457th B.G. B-17's encountering flak enroute to their target. A. Willard Reese photo.
	P47C E9*Z of the 376th Fighter Squdron, 361st Fighter Group, flying close escort to the 457th. A. Willard Reese photo.
	Lt. Robert Brofft and lead crew for Kiel mission, May 22, 1944.      Murray Swerdlove photo
	Crew of the 457th B.G. B-17F "Rose Olive"      Murray Swerdlove photo
	A little bit of humor... A. Willard Reese photo.
	A 457th B17 encountering flak enroute to the target A. Willard Reese photo.
	Crew of the 751st squadron B-17 ""That's My Baby""      A. Willard Reese photo.
	Crew of the 751st squadron B-17 ""That's My Baby""      A. Willard Reese photo.
	"Three hotshots about to go on leave".      A. Willard Reese photo.
	Monument to the men of the 457th B.G. (H) who died serving the 8th A.F. This monument is in the churchyard of a small church near the former 457th base at Glatton.      Murray Swerdlove photo
	Serial no. 238113, letter A, is the B17 known as "Rene III", of the 750th B.S. Standing is Lt. Col James Luper, commanding Officer of the 457th. He was later killed in action. This is a picture he gave to Sgt. Vernon Whatley of the 751st Sqd. (Grand Bay, Ala.) This plane was shot down on 21 Mar '45 on mission to Hopsten-Achmer, Germany. The pilot was Craig Greason. They landed in Germany and the 8 crew members were POW's.      A.W.(Red) Bell photo
	Picture of Vernon Whatley (of Grand Bay Ala.) And A.W.(Red) Bell (Walker,La.) Vernon taller one on left looking at picture.     A.W.(Red) Bell photo
	A.W.(Red)Bell, gunner 457th gp. 751st sq. Email redbell@bellsouth.net would like to hear from any crew member of the 457th B.G..     A.W.(Red) Bell photo
	These were taken at the 2nd Strategic Air Depot, and during a flight over the channel to Paris, Brussels, and Cologne on VE day.The flight pictures were the the result of your group taking ground maintenance personnel of the 2nd S.A.D. on an extremely interesting tour. Courtesy of Joseph Minton
STORY	Short story (recollection) from Bombardier Murray Swerdlove of a harrowing mission over Germany
STORY	Short story (recollection) from Bombardier Murray Swerdlove of an accident in the air
	the crew of "That's My Baby" 457th Bomb Group, 750th squadron from August 1944 to January 1945. Courtesy of Renzo Ferrera

   

The following 457th B.G. members would like to hear from any other 457th members or their family.

Willard Reese
Murray Swerdove
A.W.Bell

Willard Reese has a webpage devoted to the 457th.. see it HERE
For another web-page devoted to the 457th B.G., go here
For another 457th webpage, go here

Do you have any info, data or material on this group you would like to see added to this page? Please email me and I would be happy to add it for you.

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    Data for this page was found and used from the following publications-

• Air Force Combat Units of WWII, by USAF Historical Div. Air University
• "The Fireball Outfit - The 457th Bombardment Group in the skies over Europe" by Ken Blakebrough ©1968

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