page_title: RAF Hethel
section_title: 389th Bombardment Group (Heavy)
hierarchical_section_title: RAF Hethel / History / United States Army Air Forces use / 389th Bombardment Group (Heavy)
caption_attribution_description: English: A B-24 Liberator of the 389th Bomb Group returns to base. Image via NASM. Written on slide casing: '389 BG, 566 BS, RR L+ Landing
context_page_description: Royal Air Force Hethel or more simply RAF Hethel is a former Royal Air Force station which was used by both the United States Army Air Forces and the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. The airfield is located 7 miles south west of Norwich, Norfolk, England and is now owned by Lotus Cars.
context_section_description: With the completion of the facility, Hethel was assigned to the 389th Bombardment Group (Heavy), arriving from Lowry AAF, Colorado on 11 June 1943.  The 389th was assigned to the 2nd Combat Bombardment Wing, and the group tail code was a "Circle-C".
  Its operational squadrons were:
  564th Bombardment Squadron (YO)
  565th Bombardment Squadron (EE)
  566th Bombardment Squadron (RR)
  567th Bombardment Squadron (HP)
  The group flew Consolidated B-24 Liberators as part of the Eighth Air Force's strategic bombing campaign.
  Upon its arrival at Hethel, almost immediately a detachment was sent to Libya, where it began operations on 9 July 1943.  The detachment flew missions to Crete, Sicily, Italy, Austria, and Romania.  The group received a Distinguished Unit Citation for the detachment's participation in the famed low-level attack against oil refineries at Ploesti on 1 August 1943.
  For his action during the same operation, Second Lieutenant Lloyd Herbert Hughes was awarded the Medal of Honor.  Refusing to turn back although gasoline was streaming from his flak-damaged plane, Lt Hughes flew at low altitude over the blazing target area and bombed the objective.  The plane crashed before Hughes could make the forced landing that he attempted after the bomb run.
  The detachment returned to England in August and the group flew several missions against airfields in France and the Netherlands.
  The unit deployed again temporarily to Tunisia during September and October 1943 with the group supporting Allied operations at Salerno and hit targets in Corsica, Italy, and Austria.
  Resumed operations from England in October 1943 the group concentrated primarily on strategic objectives in France, the Low Countries, and Germany.  Targets included shipbuilding yards at Vegesack, industrial areas of Berlin, oil facilities at Merseburg, factories at Münster, railroad yards at Sangerhausen, and V-weapon sites in the Pas de Calais.  The group participated in the intensive air campaign against the German aircraft industry during Big Week, 20 – 25 February 1944.  Also flew support and interdictory missions on several occasions, bombing gun batteries and airfields in support of the Normandy invasion in June 1944, striking enemy positions to aid the breakthrough at Saint-Lô in July 1944, hitting storage depots and communications centres during the Battle of the Bulge (December 1944 − January 1945), and dropping food, ammunition, gasoline, and other supplies to troops participating in the airborne assault across the Rhine in March 1945.
  The 389th Bomb Group flew its last combat mission late in April 1945.  It returned to Charleston AAF, South Carolina on 30 May 1945 and was inactivated on 13 September 1945.
caption: A B-24 Liberator of the 389th Bomb Group returns to RAF Hethel.
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