What about our resident bases?

During their critical service in the mighty 8th Air Force, the men and B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 490th Bombardment Group operated from several airfields in the United States and England. Each installation played a vital role in the training, equipping and combat operations of the “Thundering Herd” during World War II.

Clovis Army Air Field, New Mexico
The 490th Bomb Group was constituted on September 14, 1943 and activated just over a month later on October 20th at Clovis AAF in eastern New Mexico. The group’s original squadrons – the 848th, 849th, 850th, and 851st – conducted their initial organization and flight training at this dusty, remote base. Clovis served as the 490th’s first home before the unit deployed overseas in spring 1944.

Landlocked in the high desert plains, Clovis’s conditions were less than ideal for training heavy bomber crews. The runways were relatively short and the air thin at the 4,600 ft elevation. But the group persevered through the desert winds and challenging weather to ready themselves for the journey across the Atlantic.

Eye Airfield, Suffolk, England
On April 26, 1944, the 490th Bomb Group arrived at their permanent overseas station – Eye Airfield, located near the village of Eye in the East Anglian county of Suffolk. From this base, the group would conduct their entire combat campaign against Nazi Germany as part of the 3rd Bombardment Division, 8th Air Force.

Eye boasted reinforced concrete runways suitable for the Thundering Herd’s fully laden B-17 bombers. The 490th also benefited from Eye’s proximity to the European continent, cutting down transit times to and from targets in occupied Europe and the Reich itself.

During over 11 months of operations from Eye Airfield, the 490th flew 187 hazardous missions into the teeth of the Luftwaffe. They braved flak, fighters and grueling conditions to hammer Nazi targets until V-E Day in May 1945.

Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota
In the late summer of 1945, the war-weary Thundering Herd returned to the United States after completing their brave service over Europe. On August 28th, the 490th Bomb Group officially inactivated at Sioux Falls AAF in South Dakota.

The group arrived home having compiled an exceptional combat record while paying a staggering price – some 701 personnel killed, missing or captured over the course of the air war. But they could take pride in contributing immeasurably to the defeat of Nazi Germany, as lined out in our ‘missions’ page.

The gallant sacrifices and achievements of the 490th Bomb Group will forever be bound to the story of these three bases – from their humble beginnings at Clovis and heroics over Europe from Eye Airfield, to their journey’s end at Sioux Falls. They were the airfields that hosted the Thundering Herd.