340th Bomb Group History

340th Bombardment Group History

340th BG Patch

340th BG Squadron Insignia
	486th B.S.	487th B.S.	488th B.S.	489th B.S.
	Click on the squadron insignia above for links to digitized squadron histories

August 6, 1944 Missions to Var River Railroad Bridge (Missions #254 & #255)

Squadron War Diary

Group HQ Two missions today one taking the boys for a 3 ½ hour ride up the Rhone Valley and the second to the Var River bridges produced excellent results again....

486th Late chaff and frag mission by 3 486th ships. All other squadrons highly commended the skill of these chaff ships.

487th Second mission took off in the rain at 17:32 hours to bomb the Var River railroad bridge and road bridge at S-518774. Pattern of the first box covered the central portion of the railroad bridge and the second box succeeded in knocking out the west part of the road bridge. Four planes were holed as a result of the intense flak encountered in the target area. Lt. Klebes, lead bombardier of the second box was hit in the head, but continued with his duties releasing his bombs on the target, thus enabling the entire formation to complete a successful mission.

488th From mission report: Compact pattern on east approach of road bridge. Bridge looked as though it had been cut before in two places.

489th This afternoon eighteen planes of the Group, six of them from this squadron, went to another target in France. The mission was abortive, the efficiency being only 32%. The heavies of the 15th Strategic Air Force were out in great strength today. For miles and miles the sky was filled with formations of these high-flying giants of teh air. Their flashing bodies and the heavy drone of their milti-engines always thrill us. They, too, were headed for France.

Target in 1944

Target Today

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Squadron	War Diary
Group HQ	Two missions today one taking the boys for a 3 ½ hour ride up the Rhone Valley and the second to the Var River bridges produced excellent results again....
486th	Late chaff and frag mission by 3 486th ships. All other squadrons highly commended the skill of these chaff ships.
487th	Second mission took off in the rain at 17:32 hours to bomb the Var River railroad bridge and road bridge at S-518774. Pattern of the first box covered the central portion of the railroad bridge and the second box succeeded in knocking out the west part of the road bridge. Four planes were holed as a result of the intense flak encountered in the target area. Lt. Klebes, lead bombardier of the second box was hit in the head, but continued with his duties releasing his bombs on the target, thus enabling the entire formation to complete a successful mission.
488th	From mission report: Compact pattern on east approach of road bridge. Bridge looked as though it had been cut before in two places.
489th	This afternoon eighteen planes of the Group, six of them from this squadron, went to another target in France. The mission was abortive, the efficiency being only 32%. The heavies of the 15th Strategic Air Force were out in great strength today. For miles and miles the sky was filled with formations of these high-flying giants of teh air. Their flashing bodies and the heavy drone of their milti-engines always thrill us. They, too, were headed for France.

Crew Lists and Mission Reports

On the crew list for mission #2 of the 488th Bomb Squadron below, the bombardier
in plane 8E is listed as 2nd Lt. J. Heller. This is Joseph Heller, the
author of the novel Catch-22.

Operation Orders



486th Squadron

487th Squadron

488th Squadron




489th Squadron

340th BG Squadron Insignia
	486th B.S.	487th B.S.	488th B.S.	489th B.S.
	Click on the squadron insignia above for links to digitized squadron histories