page_title: RAF Debach
section_title: 493rd Bombardment Group (Heavy)
hierarchical_section_title: RAF Debach / United States Army Air Forces use / 493rd Bombardment Group (Heavy)
caption_attribution_description: English: Crew photo of 493d Bombardment Group Consolidated B-24J Liberator 44-40321 "Old Sack", RAF Debach, Photo taken spring 1944.
context_page_description: Royal Air Force Debach or more simply RAF Debach is a former Royal Air Force station located at Debach, 3 miles northwest of Woodbridge, Suffolk, England.
context_section_description: The airfield was opened in April 1944 and was used by the United States Army Air Forces 8th Air Force 493d Bombardment Group (Heavy), arriving from RAF Elveden Hall. The 493d was assigned to the 93d Combat Bombardment Wing, and the group tail code was a "Square-X" while equipped with B-24s.  Its operational squadrons were:
  860th Bombardment Squadron (NG)
  861st Bombardment Squadron (G6)
  862d Bombardment Squadron (8M)
  863d Bombardment Squadron (Q4)
  The group flew both the Consolidated B-24 Liberator and the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress as part of the Eighth Air Force's strategic bombing campaign.  Debach airfield was the last Eighth Air Force heavy bomber station to become operational, the group flying its first mission on D-Day. Unfortunately the American engineers had not made a very satisfactory job of constructing the runway and the concrete soon started to break up. By the end of 1944, the runway was so bad that the group had to move temporarily to RAF Little Walden while runways were repaired and strengthened. The group returned to Debach in March 1945.
  The 493d BG used B-24's until they were replaced with B-17's in September 1944. The group operated chiefly against industrial and military installations in Germany, attacking an ordnance depot at Magdeburg, marshalling yards at Cologne, synthetic oil plants at Merseburg, a railroad tunnel at Ahrweiler, bridges at Irlich, factories at Frankfurt, and other strategic objectives. On 25 September, a bombardment of Strasbourg left a number of buildings destroyed in the historical city centre.
  Additional operations included striking airfields, bridges, and gun batteries prior to and during the invasion of Normandy in June 1944; hitting enemy positions to assist ground forces south of Caen and at Saint-Lô in July 1944; bombing German fortifications to cover the airborne attack on the Netherlands in September 1944; attacking enemy communications during the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944-January 1945; and assisting the airborne assault across the Rhine in March 1945.
  The 493d Bomb Group flew its last combat mission, an attack on marshalling yards at Nauen, on 20 April 1945.
  The unit returned to Sioux Falls AAF South Dakota and was inactivated on 28 August 1945.
caption: Crew photo of 493d Bombardment Group Consolidated B-24J Liberator 44-40321 "Old Sack", RAF Debach, Photo taken spring 1944.
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