A few steps away from the left side of the 453^rd Bombardment Group Museum.

An upright, black, oval shaped stone monument on a base stand set on a paved ground. A printed thick grey diagonal strip cuts the tablet in half from top left to bottom right with three printed images of the 453rd Bombardment insignia, a depiction of a B-24 airplane, and the 8th Air Force insignia. The inscription is in English text in white lettering. The monument commemorates the airmen of the 453^rd Bombardment Group and to all those who served in the airfield during World War II. On the ground in front of the monument is a plaque which tells about the memorial garden where the monument is standing.

Old Buckenham airfield was built during 1942–43 for the USAAF Eighth Air Force. It was given designation USAAF Air Station 144.

The airfield was opened in late 1943 and was used by the 453rd Bombardment Group (Heavy), arriving from March Field, California on 23 December 1943. The 453d was assigned to the 2nd Combat Bombardment Wing, and the group tail code was a "Circle-J". Its operational squadrons were:

• 732d Bombardment Squadron (E3)
• 733d Bombardment Squadron (F8)
• 734th Bombardment Squadron (E8)
• 735th Bombardment Squadron (H6)

The group flew Consolidated B-24 Liberators as part of the Eighth Air Force's strategic bombing campaign.

The 453d BG entered combat on 5 February 1944 with an attack against an airfield at Tours. Throughout combat, the unit served chiefly as a strategic bombardment organization. Targets included a fuel depot at Dülmen, marshalling yards at Paderborn, aircraft assembly plants at Gotha, railway centres at Hamm, an ordnance depot at Glinde, oil refineries at Gelsenkirchen, chemical works at Leverkusen, an airfield at Neumünster, a canal at Minden, and a railway viaduct at Altenbeken.

The group took part in the concentrated attack against the German aircraft industry during "Big Week", 20–25 February 1944. Besides strategic operations, the group engaged in support and interdiction missions. Bombed V-weapon sites, airfields, and gun batteries in France prior to the invasion of Normandy in June 1944; on 6 June hit shore installations between Le Havre and Cherbourg and other enemy positions farther inland. Attacked enemy troops in support of the Allied breakthrough at Saint-Lô in July. Bombed German communications during the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944-January 1945. Ferried cargo on two occasions: hauled gasoline, blankets, and rations to France in September 1944; dropped ammunition, food, and medical supplies near Wesel during the airborne assault across the Rhine in March 1945.

James "Jimmy" Stewart, the Hollywood movie star, was group operations officer at Old Buckenham during the spring of 1944. Stewart's fellow actor Walter Matthau was also based at Old Buckenham.

The 453d Bomb Group flew its last combat mission in April. Initially it was prepared for possible redeployment to the Pacific theatre using Boeing B-29 Superfortresses. However hostilities in Europe had ceased before the group had time to start its movement and it returned to New Castle AAFld, Delaware on 9 May 1945 to be inactivated on 12 September 1945.

Source of information: Imperial War Museum War Memorials Register, https://en.wikipedia.org

Source of images:Imperial War Museum War Memorials Register, http://oldbuckenham.blogspot.com