On the south side of the dirt road.

A brick monument comprised of a wall joined by two brick pillars on either side. A plaque is attached to the center of the wall commemorating the 491^st Bombardment Group. The plaque is vertically oriented and is inscribed in English in gold and incised lettering. Etched images on the plaque are the 8^th Air Force insignia and a depiction of a Consolidated B-24 Liberator. The monument is set on a tiled pavement that has a layout of the former airfield as it was at the time. Beside the monument is an info sign. Another plaque is set on the floor in memory of the 353^rd Fighter Group and the Metfield bomb dump explosion on July 15, 1944.

RAF Metfield was built for the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Eighth Air Force as a heavy bomber field. During the Second World War, it was known as USAAF Station 366. Metfield was one of the most isolated Eighth Air Force stations in Suffolk.

With the departure of the P-47's of the 353^rd Fighter Group, the Consolidated B-24 Liberators bombardment group, the 491st Bombardment Group (Heavy) moved in. The 491st started arriving on 15 May and the last aircraft arrived on 30 May 1944. The 491st was assigned to the 95th Combat Wing at RAF Halesworth. The group tail code was a Circle "Z". Its operational squadrons were:

• 852nd Bombardment Squadron (3Q)
• 853rd Bombardment Squadron (T8)
• 854th Bombardment Squadron (6X)
• 855th Bombardment Squadron (V2)

The squadrons were unusual in it having its ground complement recruited from other stations of the 2nd Air Division. The group commenced operations on 2 June 1944.

The 491st attacked airfields, bridges, and coastal defenses both preceding and during the invasion of Normandy. After D-Day, the unit concentrated its attacks on strategic objectives in Germany, striking communications centers, oil refineries, storage depots, industrial areas, shipyards, and other targets in such places as Berlin, Hamburg, Kassel, Cologne, Gelsenkirchen, Bielefeld, Hannover, and Magdeburg. On one occasion the 491st attacked the headquarters of the German General Staff at Zossen, Germany.

On 15 August 1944, the 95th Combat wing was broken up and the 491st was moved to RAF North Pickenham.

Source of information: www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk, Imperial War Museum War Memorials Register, geograph.co.uk, en.wikipedia.org

Source of photos: geograph.co.uk

491st

BOMBARDMENT

GROUP (H)

IN MEMORY OF THE

MEN OF THE 491st

BOMBARDMENT GROUP (H)

METFIELD

ENGLAND

1944