493rd Bomb Group (Heavy) – “Helton’s Hellcats”
Overview and Command Assignments
- Assigned to Eighth Air Force: 1 January 1944
- Wing & Command Assignments:
- 3rd Bombardment Division (BD), 93rd Combat Bomb Wing (CBW): April 1944
- 3rd Air Division (AD), 93rd Combat Bomb Wing (CBW): 1 January 1945
Component Squadrons
- 860th Bombardment Squadron (H)
- 861st Bombardment Squadron (H)
- 862nd Bombardment Squadron (H) (Established as 3rd Scouting Force on 1 February 1945; reestablished within the group in May 1945)
- 863rd Bombardment Squadron (H)
Combat Aircraft
- B-24H Liberator: From block 20
- B-24J Liberator: To 24 August 1944
- B-17G Flying Fortress: From block 80-BO, operational from 8 September 1944
Stations
- Debach, Suffolk, England: April 1944 – 6 August 1945 (Ground echelon arrived 27 May 1944, air echelon arrived mid-May 1944)
- Little Walden, Essex, England: 1 March 1945 – 1 April 1945 (Air echelon only)
Group Commanding Officers (COs)
- Col. Elbert Helton: 1 November 1943 – 15 February 1945
- Col. Robert B. Landry: 16 February 1945 – May 1945
- Lt. Col. Shepler W. Fitzgerald Jr.: 5 June 1945 – August 1945
Mission Details
- First Mission: 6 June 1944 (D-Day)
- Last Mission: 20 April 1945
- Total Missions: 158 (47 with B-24s)
- Total Credit Sorties: 4,871
- Total Bomb Tonnage: 11,733.5 tons (Including 3.8 tons of leaflets, etc.)
- Aircraft Missing in Action (MIA): 41
- Other Operational Losses: 31
- Enemy Aircraft Claims: 11 destroyed, 6 probably destroyed, 3 damaged
Claims to Fame
- Last Eighth Air Force Group to Become Operational: The 493rd was the final group to enter combat operations within the Eighth Air Force, commencing on D-Day, 6 June 1944.
- Col. Robert B. Landry: Notably, Col. Landry was the only individual to command both a fighter and bomber group within the Eighth Air Force.
History and Deployment
- Activated: 1 November 1943 at McCook Army Air Field, Nebraska.
- Early Confusion: Due to confusion in orders, original personnel were assembled at both McCook AAF and Davis-Monthan AAF, Arizona, with the latter group transferring to McCook in mid-January 1944.
- Diversion to B-29 Units: Owing to the diversion of personnel to B-29 units, the group was transferred, less air echelon and without personnel and equipment, to the UK as of 1 January 1944.
- Ground Echelon in the UK: The ground echelon was raised with personnel from 3rd Bombardment Division groups already in the UK and moved to Debach in April 1944. A small ground contingent from the US left McCook on 2 May 1944, sailing from Boston on the USS Brazil on 12 May 1944, arriving in Liverpool on 26 May 1944.
- Air Echelon: The air echelon left McCook around 1 May 1944 for overseas movement, flying the northern ferry route to the UK.
Redeployment and Inactivation
- Redeployed to the USA: July-August 1945. Aircraft left Debach around 30 June 1945. The ground echelon sailed on the Queen Elizabeth on 6 August 1945, arriving in New York on 11 August 1945. Personnel were given 30 days of Rest & Recuperation (R&R).
- Inactivation: The group was established at Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota, on 12 August 1945, and was inactivated there on 28 August 1945.
Aircraft Markings and Color Schemes
B-24H/J Liberators (May-August 1944)
- Original Paint Scheme:
- Aircraft were a mixture of Dark Olive Drab and Neutral Gray factory finish and natural metal finish.
- The Square X Group marking was applied to the upper surface of the right wing, mostly 72 inches with the span and 57 inches chordwise, with the letter X being 48 inches high.
- On camouflaged aircraft, the colors were black on white, and on bare metal, they were white on black.
- On the vertical tail, the white “square” was 48 inches high by 60 inches wide on camouflaged aircraft, partly extending onto the rudder in some cases, with the X being 36 inches high and black.
- Later, 48-inch square markings were used, particularly on bare metal aircraft where it was black with a white letter.
- Individual aircraft call letters were mostly 18 inches high in yellow on camouflaged aircraft and black on bare metal, below the tail number.
- Propeller Hubs Colors:
- 860th Bomb Squadron: Yellow
- 861st Bomb Squadron: White
- 862nd Bomb Squadron: Red
- 863rd Bomb Squadron: Blue
- In late June and early July 1944, existing tail markings were removed or painted over and replaced with the 93rd Combat Bomb Wing high-visibility markings:
- The bottom 60 inches of the outward-facing sides of the fin and rudder were painted red, with the remainder left in bare metal finish or painted white.
- The call-letter, 18 inches high in black, was positioned high on the white or bare metal section.
- The Square X marking was eventually removed from the wing.
B-17Gs (August 1944-August 1945)
- Natural Metal Finish:
- All combat B-17s were in a natural metal finish.
- The bottom third of the vertical tail, including the fairing, was painted red. In practice, this was on a line about 2 inches below the tail number.
- The call letter, still 18 inches high, was painted in black high on the bare metal part of the fin.
- Propeller Hubs Colors and Squadron Markings:
- The 860th Bomb Squadron used S
- The 861st Bomb Squadron used B
- The 862nd Bomb Squadron used C
- The 863rd Bomb Squadron used P
- The positioning on the fuselage was most commonly aft of the waist gun position on the left and forward of the national insignia on the right.
- All 493rd Bomb Group B-17s had a 48-inch red stripe round each wing, outboard of the section join, and a 36-inch red stripe round the center of each tailplane and elevator.
- In mid-May 1945, SD 110-originated squadron codes were painted, with the call-letter under the left wing:
- The 860th Bomb Squadron used N6
- The 861st used Q4
- The 862nd used 8M
- The 863rd used G6