page_title: RAF Attlebridge
section_title: 466th Bombardment Group (Heavy)
hierarchical_section_title: RAF Attlebridge / History / United States Army Air Forces use / 466th Bombardment Group (Heavy)
caption_attribution_description: English: 466TH BOMB GROUP, 786th Sq, Dougherty Crew # 612. While waiting for a delayed mission, crew members were taking it easy when a jeep rolled up and a photographer took this picture. The next day the photo was posted on the main bulletin board with a sign- " Improper Crew Behavior while awaiting a delayed mission!" Crew members in the Photo: Standing L to Right: Everette M. Cranage (R/O), Charles Patton (RWG) Harry DeBoef (E) On the ground Front Left to Right; Richard Schroeder (LWG) Nick Kuklish (TG), Robert P Boumann (CP), Fred Utter (TT) On Ground Back Left to right: Ray "Buz" Edwards (B) , Jack Dougherty (P), Bill Horney, (N)
context_page_description: Royal Air Force Attlebridge or more simply RAF Attlebridge is a former Royal Air Force station located near Attlebridge and 8 miles northwest of Norwich, Norfolk, England.
context_section_description: The airfield was opened on 7 March 1944 and was used by the United States Army Air Forces Eighth Air Force 466th Bombardment Group (Heavy), arriving from Topeka Army Air Field, Kansas. The 466th was assigned to the 96th Combat Bombardment Wing, and the group tail code was a "Circle-L". Its operational squadrons were:
  784th Bombardment Squadron (T9)
  785th Bombardment Squadron (2U)
  786th Bombardment Squadron (U8)
  787th Bombardment Squadron (6L)
  The group flew the Consolidated B-24 Liberator as part of the Eighth Air Force's strategic bombing campaign.
  The 466th began operations on 22 March 1944 by participating in a daylight raid on Berlin. The group operated primarily as a strategic bombardment organization, attacking such targets as marshalling yards at Liege, an airfield at St Trond, a repair and assembly plant at Reims, an airfield at Chartres, factories at Brunswick, oil refineries at Bohlen, aircraft plants at Kempten, mineral works at Hamburg, marshalling yards at Saarbrücken, a synthetic oil plant at Misburg, a fuel depot at Dülmen, and aero engine works at Eisenach.
  Other operations included attacking pillboxes along the coast of Normandy on D-Day (6 June 1944), and afterwards striking interdictory targets behind the beachhead; bombing enemy positions at Saint-Lô during the Allied breakthrough in July 1944; hauling oil and gasoline to Allied forces advancing across France in September; hitting German communications and transportation during the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944 − January 1945; and bombing the airfield at Nordhorn in support of the airborne assault across the Rhine on 24 March 1945.
  The 466th flew last combat mission on 25 April 1945, striking a transformer station at Traunstein. The unit returned to Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota in July and was redesignated the 466th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy) in August 1945 and was equipped with Boeing B-29 Superfortresses.
caption: 466TH BOMB GROUP, 786th Sq, Dougherty Crew # 612. While waiting for a delayed mission, crew members were taking it easy when a jeep rolled up and a photographer took this picture.
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