When Adolph Hitler began his conquest of Europe in 1939, he began to turn that continent into "Festung Europa"...Fortress Europe. The lone hold-out against the Third Reich was the island nation of Great Britain. In the summer of 1940, the Royal Air Force defeated the Luftwaffe in "The Battle of Britain" and Britain survived to become the launching point for the Allied war against the Nazis. Until sufficient forces could be built up to attack Fortress Europe's walls, the Allies took to the war on wings, for Hitler had built a fortress without a roof.

Early in 1942, the American 8th Air Force began arriving in England to help the British with strategic bombing of Nazi manufacturing, transportation and military targets. The RAF bombed by night, the 8th by day. Thus began one of the greatest conflicts of human history...the air war over Europe.

The Eighth Air Force faced a formidable opponent - the Luftwaffe, with outstanding equipment and training, and more importantly, they were battle-tested. By the end of the war, the air battles that involved thousands of bombers and fighters, claimed over 26,000 American lives. This accounted for 10% of all American deaths during the war. 18,000 airmen were wounded and over 28,000 were shot down and captured.

One of the many groups of the Eighth Air Force sent to England to participate in this enormous struggle was the 487th Bombardment Group (Heavy), which was based at Army Air Forces Station 137 near the village of Lavenham, England in 1944–1945. This page is dedicated to the airmen and ground crews of that group, and to all who served.